When Patty Charlton Jacob '65 was a young girl, she asked for the same gift every Christmas: a pony. Santa never came through, but now Jacob doesn't need him.

The daughter of a self-employed entrepreneur, Jacob moved every couple of years growing up, which kept her horse dream a fantasy. She put the dream on hold until after studying chemistry at Colby, jobs as a chemist in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries, and the birth of her two children. And then along came Wendy, "a backyard horse, a horse with no specific breeding," she said.

Wendy was gentle to ride, but while on a trip to Spain Jacob got a taste of a horse of a different breed, if not color. "We rode these Spanish horses," she said. "They were of such good temperament, so strong, so willing, and made such good mounts. I decided that if I were ever in a position to have an Andalusian horse that would be the horse I would like to have next."

The Andalusian horse is a rare breed now, but the maneuverable Spanish horses were the ride of choice for Greek warriors. Named for the Andalusia region of Spain, Andalusian horses helped Sparta defeat Athens and Hannibal defeat the Romans. William the Conquerer rode an Andalusian at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Andalusians disappeared from the battlefield when larger breeds were needed to cart around knights in heavy armor. But the speedy, strong and agile breed never fell out of favor with equestrians, and in recent years it's come galloping back.

There are about 2,500 Andalusian horses in the United States, and in 1988 Jacob set out to find one. With the proceeds of the sale of her husband's Mercedes sports car ("His passion for the car had diminished," she said), Jacob traveled to Los Angeles from her home in Seattle and bought Electra CV, a well-pedigreed Andalusian mare recommended by an L.A. horse trainer. Jacob had intended to keep the mare for her own riding, but in 1990 her husband died. Still new to Seattle, with a son in high school and another entering college, Jacob had to decide what to do with the rest of her life. "The only thing I aspired to do was to have a small horse-breeding operation," she said.

Jacob did more than aspire. She located and purchased Electra CV's half-sister and quickly bolted to the front of the Andalusian-breeding pack. Electra CV had a foal, Prestigio, in 1993. Last year, Prestigio was named a national champion. He has a video and in November graced the cover of Canadian Equine magazine. "Most of what he's doing this year is breeding the mares that were booked at the end of last year. He's been asked to lead a parade of stallions at a big Spanish horse festival, Fiesta of the Spanish Horse, in L.A. in May," Jacob said in April. "He's a hot ticket right now."

Married to Haakon Ragde, a renowned urologist, Jacob now owns and operates ECV Ranch, a 25-acre farm on Camano Island in Puget Sound, about an hour from the couple's Seattle home. ECV Andalusians "have a tranquil life in the pasture with other horse friends," Jacob said.

She said her background in science has been helpful in various ways, from the genetics involved in horse breeding to chemical tests used to predict when a mare will foal. But her passion for these majestic animals? "It can hardly be explained in words," Jacob said. "But when you see the horses and you view them as living art, it's easy to know why I'm addicted to them now."

That passion for horses was not bred into her own offspring, however. "I think the next generation is my best hope," she said. "I'm waiting for a granddaughter."