The American Endurance Ride Conference will be having its first Sleeping Giant Endurance Ride in the Helena area this weekend featuring courses for equines and riders that range from 25
CURT SYNNESS
For the Independent Record
Frank Hopkins of âHidalgo,â a movie about a 3,000-mile horse race across the Persian desert, meet your replacement: Ava Depizzol.
Well, not really. Although the Helena Middle School sixth-grader is off to a good start in the equine sport of Endurance Riding. Sanctioned by the American Endurance Riding Convention, this sport entails competing on horseback on trails over distances of 25 miles (6 hours to complete), 50 miles (under 12 hours) or 100 miles (under 24 hours).
Depizzol, 12, is the daughter of Ann Morberg and Jason Depizzol, and already has a pair of AERC 25-mile races under her belt. Last year she competed at the Autumn Sun Endurance ride, in Gooding, Idaho. Riding with her coach (and chaperone) Julie Gillespie, and aboard a friendâs horse âTed,â Ava placed 10th, competing against adults.