The neighs have it — William Shatner's 11th Annual Cosequin Hollywood Charity Horse Show was a rousing success, raising hundreds of thousand of dollars for charities to benefit children.

Final tallies are not yet available, but this year's total is expected to well exceed last year's take of $200,000. Money was raised not only from ticket sales to the Horse Show—the main event for which took place Saturday—but also from a silent auction of Star Trek and other show business-related memorabilia, and a Western Dinner Party featuring entertainer Rita Coolidge, all held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

About 2500 children were in attendance from LA's BEST, one of the beneficiaries of the fundraiser, to spend Saturday afternoon getting to know Clydesdales and Spanish Horses and to participate in other activities, and then to cheer the riders in the evening's show.

In a Shatner-inspired twist to your normal horse show, volunteers helping to entertain the children included members of two Star Trek fan clubs — one local and one from Las Vegas — who were there in costume. Starfleet personnel, Klingons and even a Mugato marched alongside medieval knights and princesses and modern-day mounted policemen in a "Time Parade of Heroes" that kicked off the main show in the Equidome.

After a galloping welcome by Shatner, a demonstration from Ahead with Horses—another charity benefiting from the occasion—showed how disabled children can benefit from exercises performed on horseback and have a lot of fun doing it. The main attraction was a medieval-style tournament featuring jousting and swordfighting among the Imperial Knights of Moreno Valley, California, who were "competing" for the hand of the "princess"—one of the disabled children from the Ahead with Horses program. Shatner closed the show in the Renaissance spirit, raising a sword and declaring, "Above all else, love."

Ahead with Horses is a therapeutic riding group for handicapped children, and LA's BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) is a program to provide supervised after-school education for children ages 5 to 12 in Los Angeles. The third beneficiary this year is The Children's Museum of Los Angeles, a play-centered arts environment that encourages children to think creatively.

The Hollywood Charity Horse Show is an annual event that started in 1990 after Shatner first watched an exhibition sponsored by Ahead With Horses. The famous equine enthusiast (who, of course, gained worldwide fame playing "Captain Kirk") saw children so severely handicapped they could not hold their head up perform intricate exercises on horseback. Shatner was deeply affected by what he had seen. "You can't watch these kids without knowing you have to help, somehow," he said.

Story & photos by Sandy Stone