Wearing glasses while riding

dee o gee

Just wondering what people who have to wear glasses do while riding? Do ye wear them or leave them off? Iv never worn mine while riding for fear that if I came off and hit my head I could break them or even if they broke they could stick into my eyes or something. :eek: In over 2 years of riding Iv only ever fallen off once and afterwards under my eye was tender so I must have banged it, dread to think what would've happened my glasses if I had been wearing them.

My bad eyesight doesn't effect my riding, I can still make out general shapes of jumps, other horses etc. But things like the letters around the arena and people's faces are blurred so at times it makes it uncomfortable as when someone's talking Im not sure if they are talking to me or someone behind/in front of me as I can't make out their face to see if they're looking at me.

Iv only one pair of glasses so if they break Id have to pay out a lot of money for a new pair, there's also the risk of damaging my eyes if a piece of metal or glass goes into my eye. Am I being too cautious? Im considering getting contacts. What do other people do?

otwb

Hi there,

Have been riding for 20+ years with my glasses on with no problems (and so far haven't broken a pair off a horse either). I wear contacts for watersports, but was always afraid of getting grit under them from arenas etc while riding so stick to the tried and tested specs!

convert

I think it really depends on what you're doing. I have a friend who rides in their glasses all the time and hasn't had an issue with it, while another friend wouldn't get up in a pair of glasses to save her life, preferring instead to use contacts. I know a lot of jockeys and eventers use contacts, too, but the former have goggles so there's no fear of getting dirt under them.

dee o gee

Thanks for the replies, between all the classes Iv been in over the last 2 years theres only ever been a handful of people who Iv seen wear glasses, thought that was a bit odd. Think Il give the contacts a miss for the summer anyways as theres a lot more dust and grit flying up in dry arenas and had never thought of grit getting under them.
Still undecided on whether to wear glasses or not, like otwb I could ride with them for the next 20 years with no problems or I could get up tomorrow, fall off, hit my head and end up breaking a very expensive pair of glasses. :rolleyes:

granturismo

I wear disposable contacts indoor and outdoor and never had a problem with dust or grit with higher moisture content lenses. I had to take of the previous type with a lower moisture content only once due to indoor dust. Annual cost excluding eye test is approx 100eu wearing 2 pairs per week.

My daughter fell off her bike wearing glasses (and a helmet). The lenses and frame broke requiring stitches only 2cm from her eyeball.

If you're due an eyetest soon ask for a contact lenses test, costs a bit more and you can ask for free samples - usually 5 pairs.

IrishGreenSheep

I have worn both glasses and contacts while riding and I have to say that I much prefer contacts. I don't have the option to go without either as my eyesight is awful! I have never had a problem with dust and I have ridden in some very dusty arenas, I found the dust was worse when wearing glasses and they just get caked in it. Contacts are also much better for any cross country work as you don't have to worry about splashes of muck or water. I agree with granturismo, definately ask for a contact lense trial that way you can see what works best for you

Rode for 20 years wearing my glasses at all times - can't wear contacts and apart from hacking at home, wore my glasses so I could see what I was doing! It was fine without till I was riding a cross country course or show jumping when I'd get lost on the course if I'd forgotten the direction, cause I couldn't see flags or numbers till I was right on top of them. That said I never took a fall that bashed my face. I had this talk with another girl in the riding club, they had forbidden jewelry at events, but they couldn't really ban glasses! We knew that the wrong fall could break our glasses or cause worse damage to our face or eyes, but we would have been a liability out on the cross country course blind! It's a risk you have to weigh up yourself, sounds like riding with your glasses on would cause you too much worry. A woman in our club wore racing goggles during the summer while wearing contacts! Yeah we thought she was hilarious, she didn't care, it kept the dirt and grit out of her eyes!

granturismo

I forgot there was another thread on this last year. I also found that my glasses fogged up in cold weather.

@budgese's post reminded me that there are sports prescription goggles avaliable - which are vented to prevent fogging and cost about 200eu. They are probably useful in games like squash to help protect eyes and I did see someone wearing them in a club jumping competition or maybe it was budgese's friend.

notsobusy

I don't need to wear glasses but I got Bells Palsy last year which meant that one hal of my face was paralized. I wore racing goggles for a couple of weeks until it went away. I got some funny looks but I needed to protect my eyes as one would shut at all.

namurt

I rode for years and always wore my glasses. Had a pretty dramatic fall once where I basically landed and skidded along the side of my face but didn't feel my glasses made it any worse. I used to wear a helmet with a peak so I figured that provided a bit of protection from anything directly impacting my eye area.

taceistagam

One upside to wearing glasses is it protects your eyes from tree branches if your galloping along narrow woodland paths. Iv managed to scratch my cornea twice (once was when riding) and its fairly sore & both times ended up in the eye and ear Hospital!!

mariebeth

OP, would it be worth thinking about getting a cheap pair from specsavers to use while riding? To me it seems a little unsafe not to be able to see things clearly while on a horse, but that's just my own personal opinion.

dee o gee

mariebeth wrote: »

OP, would it be worth thinking about getting a cheap pair from specsavers to use while riding? To me it seems a little unsafe not to be able to see things clearly while on a horse, but that's just my own personal opinion.

Iv thought about that but it still leaves the question as to whether it's safe to ride with them on.
Iv started to wear them while out hacking, I figured it was a little unsafe around traffic as if I seen a pair of headlights coming towards me I wouldn't be able to make out if they belong to a car, tractor, lorry or a pair of cyclists! :rolleyes: Have to go into specsavers one of these days for a test so will look into getting contacts and/or a cheap pair of glasses.