Why can't the circling game be fun?

Ideas:

1. Vary the rope--22/45
2. Vary the location
3. Have fun yourself
4. traveling circles--inc straight line for horse
5. obstacles
6. goal thinking on the circle
7. transitions within the canter--slow, fast
8. use her ideas
9. reward the play drive/exuberance/temper tantrum
10. circle to some clover
11. go part of a circle and rest
12. go circle to barrel with a treat
13. my attitude non adversarial
14. my energy, how light is light but effective phase when necessary
15. sometimes let things go i.e. too fast/too slow trotting behinds; other times be more particular.

Other

• Diamond gets the same way when we do a "boring" circling game. I've found with him it helps to go over obstacles while moving in the circle-poles, barrels, tarp...whatever. AND if the horse REALLY doesn't like circling-have pit-stops throughout the circle. When Diamond really hated the circling game(he used to flat-out refuse to circle after one lap) I put two upright barrels positioned parallel to each other, so that on a circle my horse would pass to the outside of each of them. On each of the barrels I put a treat. Pretty soon Diamond realized the faster he moved on the circle, the quicker he got to the treat and we were TROTTING in the circling game even when I was just asking for a walk!
• Gotta agree with the others. I put a treat on the top of three barrels in the round pen, then sent Tango out on the circle. She did her usual head tossing snotty face until I got her to stop at a barrel. LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!! It only took one for her to get it. I added a verbal Whoa, along with a complete relaxing of energy and danged if she didn't coming to a sliding stop at the next one. I took one barrel out, leaving two and used the Whoa sometimes and kept her going another. I was tickled that she didn't anticipate stopping but waited until I brought my energy way down and said Whoa. My next step was to take another out, playing with just one barrel and I started to mix it up more. She loves puzzles so I didn't get any snotty looks after that. Cones, barrels, small rubber dishes - anything will work! I've learned to slow it waaay down and make it a brain teaser.
• I used the traveling circle game to get to a cone ( I scattered them all around the arena ) then stopped him at each one for a rest and a treat! I used a change of direction followed by a halt to keep him interested in the trot, but as I got more savvy I decided teaching him to stop at a cone for a treat was probably the way to go for my LBI so I taught him to canter on a circle that way, it was so easy and now he offers me a canter! Wish I'd known that when trying to get a few steps of anything faster than a slow walk LOL!
• snappy departures to THAT patch of grass there (no more than a full circle away) - change of directions, quick - get to that dandielion right THERE and you get to eat for 20 seconds!