The mating of SURGUT OF MARKOVO (son of the McFaul dog SHANGO OF SEPPALA out of LYL OF SEPSEQUEL) with HELEN OF MARKOVO (daughter of two McFaul dogs DITKO OF SEPPALA and DUSKA OF SEPPALA) produced three outstanding individuals who became basic to SEPP-ALTA bloodlines -- permanently. UELEN'S ALI, UELEN'S BEOWULF OF SEPP-ALTA (called by Willett "the mother and father of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog") and UELEN'S BARON OF SEPP-ALTA became so dominant in the bloodline that today their proportional contribution is monitored by use of an "ABB Index" (Ali, Beowulf, Baron). UELEN'S BARON OF SEPP-ALTA was bred to Bruce Morrow's MOKKA OF MARKOVO, creating a sire/dam combination that was equally crucial to the bloodline. Even to this day, when no more pure McFaul/Shearer stock emanates from Sepp-Alta Kennels, the Willett breeding seldom strays far from Beowulf, Ali, and the Baron/Mokka progeny. (A look at the pedigrees of 2005 Willett racing dogs on the other Sepp-Alta page in this series will confirm that fact.)
Doug Willett has repeatedly stated that "Curt Stuckey [who continued the MARKOVO line] was a sinkhole; Seppalas went in, but very few came out." Of the few that did, two became the other crucial pillars both of the pure-Seppala breeding from SEPP-ALTA and of the recent cross-strained racing stock. ASH OF MARKOVO was acquired by Willett (possibly circa 1980), raced on the first-string Sepp-Alta team for five years, and during that time was bred four or five times; then he was sold to a European kennel in the mid-1980s. Ash sired HERCULES OF SEPP-ALTA, a mainstay of the bloodline, and OREO OF SEPP-ALTA; also he sired stock important to the part-Seppala cross-strain lines, most notably ROCKY OF ALTA. The other very important Stuckey-bred dog, POWDER OF MARKOVO, was sired by NUTOK OF MARKOVO on a BARON/MOKKA daughter, S-A ATHENA OF MARKOVO. A great deal of important stock sired by UELEN'S BEOWULF OF SEPP-ALTA and his son QUEWOLF OF SEPP-ALTA (as well as two other sires at Carolyn Ritter's RIVER VIEW Kennels) was bred out of POWDER OF MARKOVO.
To recap, then -- the major bloodline influences of SEPP-ALTA pure Seppala bloodlines are the following:
- SURGUT OF MARKOVO x HELEN OF MARKOVO progeny UELEN'S ALI, UELEN'S BEOWULF OF SEPP-ALTA and UELEN'S BARON OF SEPP-ALTA.
- Progeny of the mating of UELEN'S BARON OF SEPP-ALTA x MOKKA OF MARKOVO.
- The Curt Stuckey-bred male ASH OF MARKOVO (by NUTOK OF MARKOVO x ROBIN OF MARKOVO).
- The Curt Stuckey-bred bitch POWDER OF MARKOVO (by NUTOK OF MARKOVO x S-A ATHENA OF MARKOVO).
Other influences are quite minor by comparison. Two that should perhaps be mentioned are the Egelston-bred bitch SEPPINEAU'S OKA OF WINDIGO, found in pedigrees mostly through IVAN OF SEPP-ALTA, FAST FRED OF SEPP-ALTA and FARKLE OF SEPP-ALTA, and MARIAH TASHA (erroneously listed in uncertified pedigrees as "MARIAH OF WOODSIDE"), also commonly found through IVAN OF SEPP-ALTA and his daughter SNO-FIRE'S NANOOK OF SEPP-ALTA. Both of these influences may be observed in the pedigree of RACE OF SEPP-ALTA (below) through his paternal grandsire QUEWOLF OF SEPP-ALTA.
In recent years there has been no further pure-strain Sepp-Alta breeding. The most recent SEPP-ALTA pure strain stock known to me was born in the years 1998,1997, 1996 and 1995; some of the satellite kennels have reared pure-strain litters more recently (2001, 2000). Most of the important stock in recent years has featured the 1984 N-Litter (Hercules/Ali), 1990 F-litter (Beowulf/Powder), 1991 I-Litter (Quewolf/Powder), and 1994 R-Litter (Ishmael/Nestly). For a complete understanding of the nature and scope of the Sepp-Alta breeding programme, please read the other Sepp-Alta page: SEPP-ALTA (Cross-Strain Breedings), which deals with the 70% majority of the Sepp-Alta kennel's output.
The SEPP-ALTA pure strain breeding accounts for about 30 litters, to the best of my knowledge, out of an overall total of over 100 litters. (Willett claims a higher number than 30, but appears to treat the breeding of Morrow and certain others as his own to arrive at these higher figures.) During the 1980s Willett's contribution was crucial to the survival and dissemination of the McFaul/Shearer mainstream of Seppala lineage. That contribution seems to have come to an end now; the furtherance of the pure and authentic McFaul/Shearer Seppala bloodline (as opposed to mixed-lineage stock declared by ISSSC to be Seppala Siberian Sleddogs by fiat rather than by ancestry) is now up to others.
SAMPLE PEDIGREE -- UELEN'S BEOWULF OF SEPP-ALTA (Opens in a new window.)
SAMPLE PEDIGREE -- HERCULES OF SEPP-ALTA (Opens in a new window.)
SAMPLE
PEDIGREE -- RACE OF SEPP-ALTA (Opens in a new window.)
