I use safety glasses that are also sunglasses. Designed to not break due to impact. My latest pair do not fit well so I am going to have to find some that are a bit different style.
Had a cornea transplant in my right eye and glare is very painful.
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I have light sensitivity with my TBI and wear sunglasses all the time. My husband got me into Oakleys because of their impact protection that keeps them from shattering. They also have bands that wrap around the head for sports. I try to get the smallest profile that does the job in regards to looks. I’ve got a couple of pictures wearing big framed, posh glasses and I must say, not very attractive with a helmet. Ha.
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I wear ballistic safety glasses when I ride (ANSI Z87 and 0.25 caliber resistant). These are the same glasses I wore in the lab for explosives research. Wiley-X Guard or Valor frames and lenses. Oakley M-frames also are rated ANSI Z87.
Common sunglasses are very unsafe due to their risk of shattering and if they have metal frames, cutting of the face and eyes.
Safety glasses are designed such that the lenses may break but do not shatter into tiny pieces. The plastic frames are designed to deform but not break thus reducing the risk of facial lacerations.
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Sometimes yeah, sunnies look stupid… buuuuuutttt
I have a visual disability (no binocular vision) and my disability required multiple surgeries to restore my vision and thus does not allow me to wear contacts. Due to my condition, I lack “normal” depth perception that is corrected from 20% of a normal person’s without lenses to 75% with lenses.
I have specialized glasses and sunglasses meant for mountain biking / other extreme sports that I wear to ride. They are meant to withstand impact, are shatter proof (both lenses and frames) and cost a pretty penny, about $2k a pair when all said and done - as I said, my Rx is very specialized and only about 2 surgeons in the US deal with my diagnosis. I probably qualify as a para-athlete, haha.
I’ve come off plenty of times in them, landing all sorts of ways and they have never left my face. I dropped them once when cleaning them while mounted and my 1,300 lb WB stepped on them - they were fine and undamaged.
I don’t care how Dog the Bounty Hunter I look - I keep the rest of my attire very classic as I do flirt with dressage, hunters, and equitation outside the jumper ring.
I rather ride better and look kinda like a Chad Bro than miss a distance when it was preventable.
@BroncoMo SportRx is a great site with amazing customer service for a variety of sports. Also military / ballistic sunnies are a great option - down where I am in SD there are lots of optical shops that cater to the intersection of military and extreme sports like mountain biking
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I bought a $12 pair of polarized sunglasses from Amazon (SOJOS Classic Polarized Sunglasses for Women Men Small UV400 Lenses SJ2076 https://a.co/d/0Vnc7oP) and they are my barn sunglasses. I’ve just recently started riding in them and really prefer it. I get light sensitivity from migraines, and they help a lot. I can probably do better as far as a riding pair of sunglasses, but they stay in place really well so I haven’t tried to find anything else. I have shown in the hunters with them too.
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These are what I use too. As a bonus, they are also safety glasses; the glass won’t shatter in an accident. They can actually also double as eye protection when weedwacking/mowing/etc.
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I’ve had glasses since I was 4.
Photogreys for the most part these days, which work well in the ring.
I’ve eaten dirt more times than I care to recall, and have never had an issue with my glasses.
(My spine is another matter.)
In fact recently, when I was about to have cataract surgery, the ophthalmologist told me she’d rather I did choose a lens that required glasses for distance vision, as it offered more protection. (I’m severely amblyopic, and she was worried about my “good” eye.)
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I have a lazy eye too and it’s exactly the reason I wear glasses…I need to protect my “good” eye on the advice of my ophthalmologist. Shatter proof lenses.
So yes, sunglasses in hunter ring for me because I need the prescription.
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This has been an insightful thread for me because I have horrible light sensitivity—if I’m not crying, I have a migraine. Or both, which is then SUPER fun to drive 90 minutes home with… I thought I was alone TBH because no one else in my barn struggles with this.
Thanks to those who threw out some recommended brands. I always thought oakleys were overrated (it seemed like every guy I went to college with had them LOL) but I may have to eat my words and try a pair.
I would love to focus on my course and not the throbbing pain behind my eyes on the bright summer show days.
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I don’t know her personally, but for what it’s worth, Skylar Wireman wears glasses and seems to have Transition lenses as they look dark in outdoor photos, and she is winning everything in all 3 rings. Of course she is an amazing rider, but the dark glasses certainly don’t seem to be impacting her success!
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For those that are wondering, you can have your regular prescription glasses be safety glasses too.
My prescription is bifocal, transition lenses but carry the ANSI and ballistic ratings. I use super elastic alloy frames to help prevent bending.
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I wear sunglasses in dressage shows. I can’t with the squinting in bright light. I wear them jumping too, lessons, hacks, the whole works.
Mine are sport Oakleys, meant for mountain bikers. I have other pairs I also like, also made for mountain bikers.
Beautiful leg, btw.
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I’ll share my sunglasses story. I have worn glasses all my life. I usually have a decent eye for the jump. Not that I always got there, but I knew where I was supposed to be. I was riding during the helmet change when the brim got shorter and the sun was too bright for me so, despite not liking the way sunglasses look, I was considering them, but hadn’t bit the bullet.
I then went through a period where I started not seeing the jumps. As in, thinking I need to move up, then suddenly getting to the chip, or being so far away it was not a real distance. My perfect horse started stopping. I had zero confidence and I decided to stop showing. I had pre entered for the next horse show and I decided to go. Schooling day was bright so I wore sunglasses and had an excellent school. My trainer said, “You might not like those sunglasses, but you rode great in them.”
Dawn broke. My last prescription change had been to progressive lenses. The bifocal was changing the way I saw the jumps! I switched back to my old glasses to ride in and all was well. Even knowing what the problem was, I still spent a good bit of time getting my confidence and belief in my eye back.
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Midge makes a good point. What your eyes need during your typical show ring round ( jumper v dressage v hunter) you should tailor the prescription to your need there. You can swap to regular glasses when you are out of the zone.
I wear bifocal progressives. I shoot archery and need glasses for out to 60m. But I also need close lens for scoring. I am considering trying a pair of glasses with the near correction spot on the right lens and have my dominant left shooting eye dedicated to distance
secretly wishing my cataracts would hurry up so I can get a correction and switch to the beautiful sets of shooting glasses that have colored, interchangeable lenses tailored to different lighting conditions
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Add me to the glad-someone-brought-this-up club! I have aniridia in one eye and incomplete aniridia in the other. Equivisor and sunglasses are essential. I will look into some of these suggestions!
Interesting. I’m surprised to see this question coming up. I never really thought it mattered aside from good trip and good riding …
I have stupid summer allergies and cannot use contacts despite prescription allergy meds, I wear prescription sunnies that have a protective lens intended for sport. They are essentially a yellow/brown colour that keeps things light inside and dims just enough outside.
I’m not a fan of the helmet clip type though.
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I’m just interested in what works. But if it looks better in the pictures I will be looking at in the future, that’s icing. I just wish a helmet maker would make a real, functional-sized brim on an affordable helmet that fit me… 
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I’ve worn sunglasses in the ring before but never cared for how they looked. Does it matter? No. But for example, if I don’t like the way a certain shirt collar looks, I won’t buy or wear it. Kinda same same. Just looking for ideas on what people have seen that look good, and ultimately I have found a bit of a support group that apparently needed the question to be asked haha.
It is absolutely a shallow question about what looks good. We should just wear what works and call it a day. But I like to ride a horse that looks good, in clothes that look good, a safe helmet that doesn’t look like an atrocity, why not long for sunglasses that also look good?
Ultimately the times I’ve worn them while showing, they were not the reason for keeping me out of the placings or keeping me from moving on to the handy round. Green rider on green horse and various bumbles were the reason.
That’s exactly it. Just looking for something that looks a little better. In all honesty, I look like a total d-bag in my Oakleys. Yes, they work. Could they look better? You bet. Just trying to find the right ones 
