IE8 VERY Slow to load! Help

IE8 VERY Slow to load! Help

I've recently built a website from scratch which I'm very proud of (a new feat for me!) and have begun testing it in dreaded IE. I've noticed that in IE8 if I want to hover over any link it just takes a long time to do (upwards of 0.5seconds to recognize the mouse is over a link and to change to a 'click here' icon). It works 'fine' in IE6 and IE7.