Tek Marciniak Returns To Scotland

By The Scottish Equestrian, June 2003

To conduct Mounted Police Training seminars for civilian horses and their riders and will be holding seminars at Glenmarkie Guest House and Equestrian Centre on 26/26 July and 2/3 August.

A Scottish ex-patriot and nationally renowned Mounted Police Instructor in the US, Tek is returning to his native land and the city of Dundee which he left in 1966.

In the years since then, Tek's life has been both varied, interesting, successful and - at times - possibly dangerous. He did a tour in Vietnam with the US Marine Corps - a Patrol Officer then a homicide investigator with the Tampa Police Department - started up with a Private Investigative Agency - then, after selling the Agency, came 'semi-retirement'.

Semi-retirement did not last long, he gained his US Coast Captain's License - formed a charter company and sailing school - returned to law enforcement as a Deputy for the Jefferson county SO where he formed a Mounted Sheriff#s Patrol - became a certified state of Florida Police Instructor, a police firearms instructor and nationally certified mounted police instructor. Not content with that, Tek obtained a BSc in Archaeology from the University of the state of Florida and ended up in the Yucatan jungles of Mexico and the Peruvian Andes. Somehow he also managed to become a licensed pilot and scuba diver. In 1977 he started the first Tallahassee Scottish Festival and Highland games at his home outside the city; 3000 people the first year proved it was a great success, but that did not compare to the 15,000 who attended in 2002!

He then formed his own Mounted Police Academy and it was then he realised that the civilian spectators were not only interested in watching the proceedings but they were also very interested in having their own horses exposed to such training. This initial 'interest' has resulted in the programme how being offered to Scottish riders.

Tek now lives in Ocala, Florida, the 'Horse Capital of the World', where officers from across the US and overseas come for training. He also operates a Mounted Police Equipment company and two other operations centering on supplying police equipment to motorcycle officers and riot troops.