We are beyond excited to finally get to share the good news that professional rider, influencer and model Matt Harnacke is now a part of the MD-ambassador team!

“I love surrounding myself with people and things that motivate me, that create a new space for fashion, creativity and sport. As a creator, this feeds me but also motivates me to keep working harder and better. All I can say is this is just the beginning. “

Maya Delorez x Matt Harnacke

You may have stumbled upon his huge social media accounts, seen him on a billboard or read about him. Our new Brand Ambassador Matt Harnacke has really taken the world by storm! His career started at the age of 17, when he did his first show for Emporio Armani. That was the beginning of a successful, international career as a model representing brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Tommy Hilfiger – to name a few. With more than 700k followers on Instagram and almost 400k on YouTube, Matt is also one of the most followed equestrian influencers in the world.

“I’ve been following Matt for several years now and I think he’s an incredible role model and source of inspiration. It made me not only happy, but also proud when Matt contacted me and told me that he likes our products.

With great horsemanship and a dedicated mindset, he has become one of the biggest Equestrian influencers in the world. Despite the success and increasing number of followers, Matt is not afraid to go his own way, try new concepts and be innovative. At Maya Delorez, we are all about challenging the traditional and breaking new ground and to me, that’s what makes this a perfect match.“ – Madelene Törnblom, Founder & CEO

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ABOUT MATT

• Name: Matt Harnacke
• Age: 25 years old
• Lives in: The Netherlands
• Occupation: Rider, model and leading equestrian influencer
• Instagram: matt_harnacke

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Q/A Session with Matt

We had the opportunity to sit down with Matt for a quick Q/A sesh. We talked about what a regular day looks like in his life, top riding goals at the moment and also what he enjoys doing in his spare time. Scroll down to read!

Being a professional rider, model and one of the biggest equestrian influencers in the world must require a lot of dedication, discipline and hard work. What does a normal day in your life look like, from waking up to bedtime? 
“It varies a lot so it’s kind of difficult to say, but I’ll try to summarize an average day. So first of all, I got three horses that I have to ride. After that there’s often some sort of filming or shooting going on, either shooting with my photographer or doing YouTube-videos. I also participate in a lot of meetings and do administrative tasks for HorseWorldTV such as planning, answering emails, updating the website etc.

Every day is so different, but we are lucky to have people who work for us and who help us free up time so that we can focus on the creative parts and on making content. Honestly, without our staff I would just be behind my computer the whole time – and that would not be efficient.”

Okay, let’s say that a full day of work, activities and meetings got canceled  and you got 24 hours to fill with whatever you want – what would you do?
“If I had everything cancelled all of a sudden, I’d love to just be at home and do really mindless tasks. Mow the lawn, brush my horses, fix things around the property and things like that. I’m kind of a restless person and tend to get feelings of guilt if I’m not being productive. But I really enjoy being productive in a “mindless way” and putting myself into physical labor.”

You have four horses of your own at the moment: Chase, Emporio, Sureno and of course the little charmer Bear. What is your top riding goal right now? 
“Hmm.. Maybe I should be better at specifying these kinds of things. I have one big goal though: I would love to compete Grand Prix with Emporio at some point! But of course, there should be a few goals in between that I haven’t defined yet. I guess our next goal is the first competition we are going to do, which hopefully will be happening in October! So that’s the first goal I can think of right now. Then further ahead, I would love to build him up to where he can do a Grand Prix and Freestyle. That would be amazing!”

Wow, already in October? That’s so exciting! How does it feel?
“Yes, it’s getting closer! I’ve been practicing the test and it’s going kind of good actually. My trainer is also enthusiastic about it – so I’m feeling optimistic! I’m not too worried about the actual test though, but more about the stimulating competition environment and all the horses – because he is a stallion. But hopefully, we’ll do good!”

That’s so much fun! If we want to follow you and your horses, where can we find you?
“The easiest way to find me is on Instagram where I go under the name matt_harnacke and on my YouTube-channel Matt Harnacke.”

Thank you so much Matt for the quick chat and good luck to you and Emporio!