Engagement/wedding rings & riding?

[AliCat518]

I’m in the “no jewelry at the barn” camp. I know 2 people that have worn their wedding bands for activities (not riding…one was riding a motorcycle, one was hunting) and they stripped their fingers down to the bone because their wedding bands were on. OUCH!

I’m not engaged or married, but I wear my great grandmothers engagement ring daily and am scared $hitless that i’ll hurt it at the barn!

While at the barn one day, I was wearing pearl earrings that were a gift from my grandmother. I tacked up and forgot to take them off. During a short trail ride, my head itched, so we stopped, I removed my helmet and immediately felt the pearl earring fall out. We could not find it. Looked for hours. My mother made me go back with a metal detector. Still didnt find it.
We mentioned it to everyone at the barn who rides that trail and one woman found it about 2 weeks later! Thank the lord…but I wouldnt chance it again!

[cyndi]

I have a band with square cut diamonds halfway around it. The band is gold and the diamonds are set in platinum. Have been wearing it 15 years all the time with no trouble. I would lose it easier if I took it off/on than just wearing it. Plus we have a farm and our barn is actually attached to our house via a covered breezeway - so I am in/out a lot and would probably lose it within a day if I kept taking if off!

[Effie1221]

I usually wear gloves around the horses so don’t worry about the rings coming off so much. I have a solitary diamond with diamond inlaid engagement ring and matching wedding ring. My trainer doesn’t wear rings (anymore) when riding because of to many close calls but she rides more than most people at our barn.

[spinandslide]

what a timely thread…

yesterday, I lost the diamond out of my wedding ring…

we’ve been married 11 years…it broke my heart and I kick myself for wearing the ring out when doing stuff with my animals…I imagine it contributed to the loosening of the stone.

[goosejumps]

Another in the “leave both of my rings at home” camp. Less worries all around, and this way the spoiled Dobbin gets to pretend he’s the only male in my life. :lol:

[531]

The previous ring I wore was a tension setting, it was low profile and never got caught on anything. It was a lovely ring and I enjoyed wearing it. I don’t wear it anymore and it is looking for a new owner. Selling them privately is easier said than done!!

[smilton]

I threw myself off the back of my pickup when the metal clip on the bundle of metal fence posts caught my ring. I’m no longer married but when I was if I wore rings it was always under leather gloves.

I’ve also caught them on bridles.

[Justa_Bob]

Jeweler advised never to wear nice jewelry when gardening, cleaning, mucking about. Abuse is really hard on jewelry - he advised treating your rings like fine watches. It actually pained him hearing clients brag about 'abusing" their jewelry!

[MistyBlue]

![]( had the separate engagement ring and wedding band. Over time around the horses, I was only wearing the band. Even though insured, it’s never fun to lose a diamond.

For our 10th anniversary we replaced our wedding bands and the jeweler took the stone from my engagement ring and set it into the new wedding band in a full bezel setting. No chance of losing the stone that way. Also makes for a nice smooth/low setting. Gloves slide easily on and off. And it can’t get too filthy.

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/ring.jpg)

So now I wear the single ring and it doesn’t come off. Only other piece of jewelry I wear is my watch, that only comes off for the shower and overnight.

If you wear gloves, the wedding band should be okay. I wouldn’t advise it for any band with delicate set stones though. Pave is gorgeous, I love it. But they come out rather easily.

[PiaffePlease]

I take both of mine off. Both have raised prong set diamonds and I cant get my gloves on with them. I wore them for a while (I dont always wear gloves when I ride) but when I took them to be cleaned, I was shocked at how nasty they had gotten. Now when I get them cleaned, I can tell a difference, but Im not shocked at how sparkly they are.

I accidentally wore some nice earrings to the barn and one fell out and I never found it. I learned my lesson.

[spacytracy]

My engagement ring is a cathedral setting (pretty, but impractical). I hardly even wear it anymore because I forget to wear it - I definitely can’t wear it riding. 1 - it wont fit under gloves 2 - it knocks into everything and I’ve loosened a prong already (platinum) and 3 - I’m scared I’ll fall, it will swell and they’ll have to chop my finger off. lol.

[subk]

Mine never comes off. If I took it off regularly I would lose it, no question. Don’t wear earrings at the barn though.

It’s a good sized emerald cut sapphire with tapered diamond baggetts. I’d actually worry about it less if it was a diamond as they are harder and more durable than sapphires. In 20 years I’ve had the prongs reworked twice and the setting rebuilt once and the sapphire re-polished once. Like any thing else it just needs some maintenance.

Not terribly worried about injury. Much more likely that the little monster throws me on my head. And then there was that thread about the dangers of underwires in bras…

[bort84]

I take both of mine off for sure. The band is scooped to fit with the engagement ring, so it looks odd as a stand alone. Also, mine are platinum - platinum is better about handling polishing than gold, but because it is technically a harder metal, it is usually used in a purer state and ends up being as soft as most gold. Mine also have a lot of little diamonds that are dirt magnets.

I don’t wear mine at the barn ever = ) They get dinged up too easily (they get scratched just from regular wear, and I have an office job), and I don’t like to have something on that can get hung up on things while I’m working.

Mine stay at home in the jewelry box (the ONLY place my ring ever goes if it’s off my finger) - if you make it a habit, you won’t lose them. Another option I’ve considered is hanging them on a chain for barn wear, but that’s just another thing to lose (I’ve had bad luck with clasps breaking and me not noticing). No reason you can’t just leave it at home.

If I ever got back into horses full time, I would revisit the band on a necklace idea, and my husband and I have both talked about ring tattoos of some sort = ) I’m not big on tattoos (he is), but I think I kind of like that idea.

[kookicat]

I don’t wear a wedding ring any more, but when I was married, I used to take it off when I was working with the horses.

[sophie]

I never take off my wedding ring. But it’s a very slim, discreet 2-tone gold band, so I don’t even feel I’m wearing it.

I never owned an engagement ring…or rather, I told Hubby if he gave me one, I’d sell it to get a horse, so he bought me a horse instead, hehe. 20 years later, I still have a horse and no bothersome ring.

I very rarely wear rings anyway, especially rings with stones. They’re pretty, but they bother me. I sometimes wear them on a chain instead.

[sophie]

I never take off my wedding ring. But it’s a very slim, discreet 2-tone gold band, so I don’t even feel I’m wearing it.

I never owned an engagement ring…or rather, I told Hubby if he gave me one, I’d sell it to get a horse, so he bought me a horse instead, hehe. 20 years later, I still have a horse and no bothersome ring.

I very rarely wear rings anyway, especially rings with stones. They’re pretty, but they bother me. I sometimes wear them on a chain instead.

[Appsolute]

Take them off!

I never ever wear them at the barn. I LOST my rings once (but found them later, yay!!!) and ever since, have very strict routines as to where they go, when not on my finger.

When I arrive at the barn, rings come off and go in the zippered coin portion of my wallet, then into my tack trunk before touching any horses.

FYI, when I was younger, I had a “scare” wearing jewelry around horses. I was wearing a slim silver ring, and grabbed the halter of a horse that was pulling away. Well that ring snagged on something, and yanked… LUCKILY the ring broke, and was pulled off of my finger! Scared me, as I knew if the ring didn’t break… it would have been my finger that did!!

I try to take “good care” of my rings, I want them to look good for many years… and the diamond is an heirloom, which I DO NOT want to lose, and couldn’t afford to replace if I did (not to mention its an antique cut).

I take my rings off when doing dirty work, showering, swimming, dishes etc, I do not sleep with them on either (they always go in the jewelry box next to my bed). Basically, I wear them when I am out in public and presentable! (I joke, that I hate wearing my engagement ring when I am “sloppy”, the ring is so pretty I am not doing it justice!)

[lovey1121]

Used to wear both and took off raised E ring for icky jobs like poulticing and sheath cleaning----then I once forgot to take off the big’un and gave poor horsie a thorough sheath cleaning avec la diamante…OUCH and EEEEWWW-smegma-encrusted diamonds and emeralds…took care to never wear it to the barn again.

I do wear my wedding band. Its a plain band.

[subk]

If you’re putting them on a chain to prevent wear you probably aren’t doing them any favors. It doesn’t take long to damage the gold where it rides against the chain. Also wearing rings to bed and having them rub against the sheets night after night is the most damaging wear most rings get. Kind of like clothes, the washer and dryer are harder on them than actually wearing them.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

Somebody on here has a great story about leaping up to smack a fly on the far side of her horse, getting her ring caught in the mane, and being towed along by the horse. I remember the story from the last time we had this discussion, but can’t think who it was.

Anyway, I once nearly got my plain wedding band caught in the mane while riding and it scared me badly enough that I either wear gloves or take off my ring.

I’m bad about remembering to put in on again though. One time I left it off for long enough that I signed a new client and he got to know me well enough (or so he thought!) to ask me out on a date!:eek: