It is possible, but the syntax depends a little on how you are building the form. Easiest way is to do it on the element itself as you add it:
$element = new Zend_Form_Element_Text('something');
$element->class = 'rich';
$form->addElement($element);
or if you mass-assigned the decorators, e.g.:
$element = new Zend_Form_Element_Text('something');
$element->setDecorators(array(
'Errors',
'Label',
array(array('row' => 'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'div'))
));
[...]
$decorator = $element->getDecorator('row');
$decorator->setOption('class', 'rich');
If you are using a rich text editor like TinyMCE or similar, another option might be to create a custom form element that extends Zend_Form_Element_Textarea and always add your class to it.