It is a gorgeous day at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Fla., perfect for the Sunday Grand Prix, one of the biggest jumping events. Here, Robert Dover is schooling a huge, gorgeous chestnut horse named Kennedy.

Kennedy is the horse Dover intends to ride in Athens for what will be his sixth Olympic Games.

Having trained and ridden horses for years, Dover is considered one of the best in his profession. Alongside his partner, jump rider Robert Ross, Dover has built a life around his passion for horses. And his contributions off a horse are just as important as those he’s earned on a horse.

Situated 30 miles west of Palm Beach, Wellington is built around and supported by the horse community. In fact, it is the “place to be” during the winter months, attracting competitors from both the East and West coasts, as well as Canada, Europe and South America. Where else could you see Tommy Lee Jones playing polo alongside heir to the BET fortune, Paige Johnson, competing in show jumping?

Most people immediately associate wealth and prestige with the equestrian world. Indeed, the sport continues to be largely supported by the gentry, attracting names such as Georgina Bloomberg and Kelly Klein and the Kennedys and Rockefellers before that.

But when gay men come to mind, they are rarely associated with horses. Yet, they are there.

Mason Phelps Jr. of Phelps Media Group Inc. promotes much of the major equestrian events, and spends every winter in Wellington.

Phelps is a former Olympian in the sport, having competed at the 1968 games in Mexico City. He is also gay, and has been with his partner for the past 14 years.

“I would say that many gays are involved in the horse world,” Phelps says. “They don’t walk around with a banner or anything. But it is certainly no secret. This is a very accepting community. Nobody pays much attention to it. Everybody goes about his or her job. They are training horses, showing horses, riding horses, whatever the case may be. It is always about the horse.”

Phelps says there are many gay men and women involved in the sport at all levels, from local barns to high caliber international competition, including the Olympics. They fill many roles, from riders to trainers to grooms. Gays compete mostly in jumping and dressage, which is the equivalent of ballet on horseback.

“Not so much in polo,” Phelps says. “If there is anybody over in polo that is gay, they certainly don’t identify themselves. I think it is harder because it is a team sport, and you have many wealthy businessmen involved [who pay for the teams].”

In the equestrian world, closeted riders seem to be the exception, not the rule. Several top gay riders such as Gunthër Seidel and Dover have competed at an Olympic level and won medals, and they are considered stars within the equestrian scene.

These men aren’t well-recognized names in the mainstream culture alongside other gay athletes like Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis.

Gay athletes in the sport have yet to receive widespread attention. This can be blamed on the sport’s failure to reach a general public as well as the public’s inability to embrace riding as a true sport.

“It’s because this sport is much more of a European sport,” Dover says. “It has had in the past the reputation of being an elitist sport. And unlike many sports, we are not as visible as say, swimming.

“So the athletes themselves are only going to be as visible as the sport lends to it. If you are a skater and come out, you are going to have a lot more visibility than if you are an archer.”

Dover has just finished his training and instructing for the day.

After he has put in his hours with the horses, the champion equestrian enjoys a change of scenery.

“There are people who are heavy hitters in the horse world but are able to do other things and step out of it,” he says. “Yet there are other people in the horse world that are insular and focused only on horses. They don’t see that there are other things in life, and that’s too bad.”

Both Dover and his partner, Ross, know when to leave the horses behind. The couple share a house with philanthropist and fellow horse enthusiast Joe Zada in Fire Island for the summer months, where they relax at the beach and socialize with gay men in other walks of life. And every year they attend the White Party in Palm Springs, Calif., an event Dover is especially fond of.

“You can trust that the weather will be great all day, and you don’t have all these competing parties like the White Party in Florida,” Dover laughs. “You find everybody by the same pool at the same party.”

In addition to his titles and medals, Dover served on the Olympic committee athelete’s advisory council, an opportunity he says enlightened him about just how many gays and lesbians excel at all sports.

“It’s sort of a nice thing to realize, and a liberty to know we are everywhere,” Dover says.

In March 2003, he attended the first ever Gay & Lesbian Athletic Conference in Boston and was a keynote speaker alongside Billy Bean.

But it is his involvement in the Equestrian AIDS Foundation that he is most proud of.

Dover started the foundation eight years ago along with Ross and Phelps. The foundation cares for people from the age of 4 to 64. His voice grows with excitement as he recounts how one of his students, Kate Capshaw (a.k.a. Mrs. Steven Spielberg), helped recruit Melissa Etheridge for last year’s fund-raiser at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

“Steven and Kate flew [Melissa] out with her wife,” Dover says. “We had the best time with an attendance of 2,000 people. [Melissa] was going to do three songs but stayed on for an hour and a half. The show made enough money that we could go on through the year.”

Dover, Ross and Phelps saw a need for the foundation after realizing donations from earlier fund-raising events supporting AIDS were not always reaching those who needed the most help.

“Robert Dover came up with the idea eight years ago and we sat down together and did all the legal work, secured [a tax exemption], and put a board of directors together,” Phelps says. “Now it’s become a strong and well-supported organization and many people are involved, gay and straight, married and single, men and women, all for a common good.”

Indeed, the equestrian community has embraced the foundation.

Heiress Georgina Bloomberg and Jamie Krauss, Joan Lunden’s daughter, both serve as board members.

On a personal level, Dover says his relationship with Ross works well because of their mutual involvement in the sport and mutual affection for horses.

The couple lives in Wellington during the winter and spends May to November at their farm in Bridgehampton, N.Y., which would make it hard to have a relationship with somebody who couldn’t live that lifestyle, Dover says.

There are, however, plenty of top riders out there who manage to maintain relationships with partners outside the industry. Marc Grock is a rider based in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., just outside San Diego. His partner runs a nonprofit agency, and is not involved professionally with horses.

“People in this sport become very isolated; it is so exclusive and involves so much wealth,” Grock says. “That’s one of the reasons why I love not having a partner involved. It keeps me aware of the larger picture, keeps me grounded and alert to the world outside horses.”

Seidel is one of the biggest riding stars on the West Coast. His horse business is headquartered in Del Mar, and he trains in Rancho Santa Fe.

The German-born rider’s accomplishments include two Olympic bronze team medals in the Atlanta and Sydney games. He also has represented the United States at the World Equestrian Games in Italy and Spain.

In addition, he has been in the World Cup two times, and last year came in third place individually. Like Dover, Seidel is a top contender for the 2004 summer games in Athens.

He has had romantic relationships inside and outside the sport. His partner of 10 years is Sean Caddell, who sells real estate in Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe.

“I like it better because we can share other interests besides horses,” Seidel says. “But at times it is difficult. I compete internationally for a couple months out of every year.”

As far as being gay in the sport, Seidel says that it has never been an issue.

“The equestrian sport is very open and gay friendly. Most people involved with equestrians are very tolerant,” Seidel says.

The air of wealth around the sport certainly adds a sense of intrigue.

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