Horse that takes ages to get going?

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ironhorse

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My little mare is starting to go really well on the flat, after numerous problems with saddles etc.
Only problem is that she takes at least 25min to get going forwards - she's better after a canter - and doesn't really do her best work till after about 45min.
That's fine - she's fit enough to work for an hour or more, but I don't always have time or energy to ride for that long. Plus, if it's the evening she then takes ages to cool off enough to have her tea.
She's much the same with my husband who only rides western, but he only ever gets on her at weekends when time isn't an issue!
Any exercises/ideas to sharpen her up a bit?
I do lots of transitions and she adores pole work, but I can't always do the latter if other people want to use the school at the same time. She's a bit better with other horses around but I wouldn't exactly say they make her sharp!
 
My horse is the same - now, I dont spend ages warming up in trot, I walk round for about 10 minutes to supply him up, trot a couple of circuits, then straight into a forward canter with my weight slightly out the saddle pushing him forward, then go back to other work. My dressge instructor advised me to do this and he is now working so much better.
 
Umm, my ideas are a little expensive.

Have you tried her with a massage or magnotherapy pad before work.

Alternatively, would recommend that you book a few lessons with an experienced BD trainer telling them that you want to focus on a warm up strategy.

If your mare is blocking you - inverted neck/not going forward - imho the most constructive warm up exercise is working long and low.
 
My last horse was like this. Like gummybear, I used to get on walk for a bit, short trot and then forward canter on both reins. Then canter, walk, canter, walk until he was going forward but not worrying about anything other than going off my leg. Then, walk, organise, then get on with some work.

This worked for us.
 
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If your mare is blocking you - inverted neck/not going forward - imho the most constructive warm up exercise is working long and low.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. No, she makes it very obvious when she's blocking me - head jammed between her knees, very tight through her back, no forward movement, but fortunately this doesn't happen unless she really doesn't want to play
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We tend to use long and low as a treat when she's worked hard as her neck is already set on about 2ft lower than most other horses. She's not particularly tight or tense, it's more about connecting brain to engine!
More canter work probably is the answer, have been a bit over cautious about not cantering too much until she's warmed up, but will crack on!
 
I have a not very forward going horse, through idleness rather than any specific problems (although he's not good at using his back end as he should and usually on his forehand) but I've found in my lessons once we've warmed up on either rein in walk and then done lots of supple-ing type exercises for his hocks through turn on his forehand, some leg yielding, etc, if we do short amount of very forward trot work and then get him to canter on both reins, his remaining trot work then and other things we want to do come easier for the rest of the lesson. Like you however, I don't see much until about 10-15 mins before end of the lesson and then he surprises us by doing something really well like a flying change (I think he throws something in like that near the end just to do the equine equivalent of two fingers at my instructor!)
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