Matt Collins

The top male model of the 1970s, Matt Collins found himself thrust into a life and career he never expected. His life had meager beginnings, born to a coal executive in Waverly, Pennsylvania, one of five children. Growing up, he was a ferociously smart loner, only brought out of his shell by his major love: riding and training horses. At the age of 14, Matt quit high school and took off to Virginia and was taken in by a horse-owning family that was need of a trainer. It was a risky move that Matt's father didn't approve of, figuring it was a waste of his intellect, but it was a risk that he knew he had to take; and it paid off greatly. Matt toured the horse show circuit and by his early 20s, he was earning $50,000 a year as a rider-trainer. In 1974, Matt encountered a stubborn obstacle: a brown gelding horse named Harreus. No one had been able to ride the horse before, except, of course, for Matt. They toured the 1974 season together, and were so successful that Matt planned to start a