Salem — For several years, Mitchell Farm has hosted a music festival that has brought in national folk artists like Aztec Two-Step and more than a thousand attendees every year.

After the Second Company Governor's Horse Guard presents the colors at this year's benefit in September, the farm is hoping to lead one of the guard's veteran members into its red barn for his retirement.

Zeus, a warmblood cross who has served in the Guard since 2001, is the focus of the farm's fundraising efforts this year. Mitchell Farm founder and executive director Dee Doolittle said the farm chooses one cause every year for its fundraising.

Mary Ann Pudimat, who is a member of the board of directors for the farm, found out about Zeus while talking to 2nd Lt. Jen Mazzara about donating her horse Max to the Guard. She said Max ended up being "too goofy" for the unit, but Mitchell Farm was brought up in the discussion and Mazzara thought the farm would be a great place for Zeus to retire.

The Guard was chartered in 1808 as one of the two cavalry units that escorts the governor. Mazzara said today the all-volunteer group is ceremonial and one of the few left in the country. It conducts military drills and appears in parades, including the inaugural parade for former President George W. Bush in 2005.

"It was something that few people ever get to do, and it was a real honor to be down there and to be representing both the state and the horse guard," she said.

Mazzara said horses in the Guard like Zeus have to get along well with each other because the military drills they do require the amimals to be very close to each other. They also have to be less skittish around loud music, sudden movements and other "scarier stimuli" at parades.

"He's one of the favorite horses for our members to ride in drills," she said. "He has just been a super horse for us."

Zeus also participates in the Guard's Saddle Up for Life program, which offers riding lessons for children with disabilities and residents of the Southbury Training School.

Funds from two events this summer - Herrmanns' Royal Lipizzan Stallions in August and the music festival in September - will go toward supporting Zeus' retirement. Doolittle said the farm will contribute $10,000 in addition to money raised by the Guard and a donation from the state.

Once retired, Zeus' job will be to eat and learn how to be a horse again, she said.

Mazzara said he has been a great horse for the Guard, and everyone will miss him.

"It's time for him to have a more peaceful life," she said.

More information about Mitchell Farm's events and Zeus' retirement fund are available at www.mitchellfarm.org.