From Long Island to Fort Worth, Logan Fiorentino followed her passion for horses and teaching.

Fiorentino, the university’s Equestrian Hunt Seat head coach, came to Fort Worth after three seasons of being an assistant coach at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Fiorentino said her parents were very supportive of her dreams and understood the commitment it took to be a great athlete. Her mother was always there to keep her grounded, she said.

“No one is just going to give you something… You have to keep working,” Fiorentino said.

Her mother was there to remind Fiorentino that she could do anything she set her mind to, and the harder she worked, the better she got.

Runner, a six-year-old pony, was given to Fiorentino on her eighth birthday. He was her first pony and taught her perseverance, dedication and established her foundations as a rider, she said. Runner will turn 26 this year and is still teaching young children how to ride.

Fiorentino grew up showing on the A-circuit along the East Coast. She also showed in the Northeast during the summer and in Wellington, Fla., during the winter.

While choosing a college, the thought of being on a collegiate equestrian team did not cross Fiorentino’s mind. She was not ready to live far away from home until halfway through her sophomore year at Adelphi University in New York.

Fiorentino was recruited by the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina where her sister was a swimmer. After visiting both schools, Fiorentino chose Georgia.

Fiorentino competed on Georgia’s hunt seat team in equitation over fences and equitation on the flat from 2004 to 2007.

Before becoming an assistant coach, Fiorentino worked at a farm in Tampa, Fla., after finishing her master’s degree to exercise horses and teach lessons. At the farm, Fiorentino realized she loved working with younger riders and wanted to get into coaching college athletics, she said.

An assistant position opened at Georgia around that time

“I took it as a sign,” Fiorentino said. “And I’ve never looked back.”

Fiorentino said her experience as a student athlete helped her relate to her student athletes and become a better coach. Fiorentino helped coach the Georgia Bulldogs hunt seat team to become the 2010 Hunt Seat National Champions and the 2011 Hunt Seat Reserve National Champions.

The difference between Athens, Ga., and Fort Worth, Texas, is that Athens is a true college town, Fiorentino said. The town only existed because of the university and its athletics.

There is always something going on in Fort Worth even if there is not a home game for the Frogs, Fiorentino said. She and her husband’s favorite restaurants are H3 Ranch in the Stockyards and McKinley’s Fine Bakery and Café, she said.

“[Fort Worth] is a great balance between college life and ‘grown up’ life,” Fiorentino said.