Manitou rings

Manitou Springs is a quirky mountain town located in the shadow of Pikes Peak just outside Colorado Springs. It’s known for its mineral springs, specialty boutiques and art galleries, and has been a Buxton family favorite for more than a decade. 

Ryan and James at the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, July 2011

It's a great place to spend a day, with lots of good restaurants and shopping opportunities galore.

Seth at the rubber ducky store in 2019. How this place stays in business, I will never know.

I have a lot of favorite stores...

but my favorite favorite is Ruxton's Trading Post.

Overseen by Kate the Border Collie, 

this old timey junk shop specializes in used license plates and street signs,

taxidermy...

and Western hats.

However, if you really look...

there's also...

a lot of old tack.

There is a stack of old saddles mostly buried in a back room that I visit every time I am in Manitou.

Most of these are standard fare,

but I am endlessly intrigued by this pony sized saddle.

Instead of attaching to the saddle with an offside billet and latigo, this saddle's cinch is laced onto the right fender.

The other side of the cinch has a metal hook.

The cinch goes around the pony's belly and clips onto one of these rings.

I don't think I've ever seen another saddle like this. I wish I knew its story. It is as cute and quirky as the store and town in which it resides.