Love of horses is the universal language at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. But when that isn't enough, the volunteers from Language Services are standing by.

Sandy Suffoletta of Georgetown has a staff of 90 volunteer interpreters (spoken) and translators (written), chosen from more than 400 applicants from across the nation and several foreign countries.

They work at the Kentucky Horse Park each day and are available by phone around the clock to assist the athletes from 58 nations and everyone else at the Games, from grooms and veterinarians to journalists and spectators.

"We try to be available at any time and place language facilitation is needed," said Suffoletta, who did similar work at the Olympics in Atlanta and Vancouver, as well as the equestrian World Championships that opened the Horse Park in 1978.

Language Services has volunteers fluent in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Czech, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Japanese and Hungarian. Others are available by phone should Turkish, Hindi and Hebrew skills be needed. Several volunteer applicants spoke Chinese, but there is only one athlete here from China, and she speaks fluent English.

As I spoke with Suffoletta in a trailer behind the Media Village that is the Language Services command post, we were frequently interrupted by telephone and two-way radio calls for assistance. "We hadn't had a request for sign language until now," Suffoletta said after taking a call about a spectator needing help. "But I do have people I can contact."

Language Services volunteers began work before the Games at the quarantine facility at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, where many grooms, athletes and team officials entered the country with their horses.

"They come off the plane exhausted," Suffoletta said. "To have the opportunity to be met in their own language was important. And they were very appreciative."

Many international visitors are like Americans, who may have learned another language when they were young but don't use it enough to be proficient, she said.

"A lot of what we do are little things, like helping them know where to get the passes they need, getting them to the right place at the right time, helping the athletes do interviews and press conferences," Suffoletta said.

"Every volunteer has a story to tell about why they're here, and we all love horses," said Marcelle Rousseau, who grew up in Atlanta and now lives in France. Both she and her husband ride, so being a French interpreter at the Games seemed like a natural thing to do.

Interpreters have helped remedy misunderstandings and defuse a few tense situations, such as a few grooms who were dissatisfied with their accommodations.

"When you are upset, you don't tend to think well in another language," Rousseau said. The same goes for when you are tired. Interpreters were waiting at the end of the endurance course to remind the exhausted competitors to unsaddle their horses and go to the scales to be weighed.

"An important role we have is to be ambassadors," Suffoletta said. "We want to leave people with a lasting impression of Kentucky, that they spoke my language and were able to help me."

Reach Tom Eblen at teblen@herald-leader.com or (859) 231-1415 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1415. Read and comment on his blog, The Bluegrass & Beyond, at Kentucky.com.