KINGSTON — After giving countless hours of community service and asking nothing in return, horse trainer and farrier Bill Mason watched with his wife Geri as the community showed up in droves Saturday to give them not what they “asked for” but what they needed.

And they did it with the help of their equine friends.

“All the people that showed up are giving their love and support,” Mason said. “It’s overwhelming all the love and support they’re showing right now.”

Bill Mason suffered a massive heart attack in December 2006, and with him unable to work, several of his students and friends put their heads together and put on a benefit horse show to raise funds to offset his lofty medical bills.

The turnout brought tears to his eyes.

Roughly 40 horses and their riders took to the arena to strut their stuff, while some 200 residents kept an eye on and participated in the silent auction and raffle at the event, said event organizer Danielle Branes.

“It’s going great,” Geri Mason said Saturday. “All kinds of people are here, we’re seeing people we haven’t seen for years. It’s fantastic.”

The show was hosted by Sandamar Farms, and many riders who have worked with Bill Mason, or had horses worked on by him, attended show their respect and lend a helping hand. Event organizer Deann Anunson said she was thrilled with the turnout, and the skill being shown by the riders and horses.

“I brought some of my students,” said trainer and former Miss Kitsap Rodeo Kristen Oas. “It’s important to support other trainers. The horse community in Kitsap County is both small and large all at the same time. We need to remember to help each other out when we need it, and that’s what’s going on here.”

The event wrangled $4,368, which should pay for Bill Mason’s medical bills for the next couple months while he recuperates.

“I’m coming back with a vengeance,” Mason said. “I did not take this whole thing sitting down. At the hospital we had a board of what we were going to accomplish, and we’d write something different on there. First it was live, then stand, then walk. On the last day I was there, I wrote ‘Cowboy Up!’ on it, and that’s what I intend to do. These riders and horses, they’ve really been an inspiration.”