Cold backed?

[wellsat]

Jerry is really tense and resists everything in trot for about the first twenty minutes when ridden before settling into a really nice rhythm.

Any tips?

 

[dafthoss]

how about warming him/her up on the lunge before hopping on?

 

[joeanne]

Lunge before you get on. 5-10 minutes generally does the trick.

 

[diggerbez]

my 5 year old is what i would describe as cold backed... before i ride i often either put his equissage on (equilibrium do a cheaper version) to warm up his muscles/ pop him on the lunge for 10 mins. i always do loads of work in walk before trotting- at least 15 mins of leg yielding and walk-halt trans and shoulder in and stuff. seems to work (most of the time)

 

[showjump26]

One of my horses is the same, he's slightly cold backed. I find him much looser and less stiff when he's ridden daily, walked around for a while before warming up and rugged up nearly all the time.
Hope this helps