Our Board of Directors
Dawn Cofer - Board Chair
Dawn Cofer - Board Chair
Dawn is a Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manager with First Interstate Bank, serving individual, business clients and partners all over the region. Dawn is a native Oregonian whose love of horses and commitment to community service made the Healing Reins Board a natural fit. She is a graduate of the Leadership Bend class of 2014, sits on the First Interstate Bank Commitment to Community committee, and has volunteered in a variety of leadership and support capacities within the Central Oregon Community.
Dawn is married with two grown daughters and a granddaughter and enjoys tending to her menagerie of horses, dogs, goats and chickens. The Cofer family proudly sponsors “Ike”. Dawn is committed to helping Healing Reins sustain its vital programs so that anyone in need can access these life-changing services.
Rachael Schneider - Vice Chair
Rachael Schneider - Vice Chair
Rachael is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she runs a private practice for mental health services here in Central Oregon. She is devoted to her community; helping people heal from life’s difficulties. She specialized in trauma therapy, employing EMDR and Somatic Experiencing.
Rachael has been involved in equine-assisted therapy since 2005. She is inspired by all that the horses can do to incite recovery of both body and mind. She is thrilled to support to Healing Reins in their mission for our community.
An Alaskan native, Rachael loves the mountains and seasons of central Oregon. When she is not working, she is outdoors with her husband and kiddo. She loves adventuring on horseback, on the boat, or hiking new trails.
David Doughty - Treasurer
David Doughty - Treasurer
Benjamin Becker
Benjamin Becker
Ben is the Deputy District Attorney for the Deschutes County District Attorney Office in Bend, Oregon. Some of his practice areas include business, employment, contract, construction, and education law. Prior to moving to Bend, Ben represented school districts and community colleges before becoming a prosecutor in Klamath County and Crook County.
Once in Bend, Ben found Healing Reins through a close friend, who invited him to attend the annual Diamonds and Dust event. Ben was impressed with Healing Reins’ professionalism, organization and commitment to maintaining its premier center accreditation through PATH International. Ben is committed to helping Healing Reins provide equine-assisted services while staying true to Central Oregon’s historical connection to horses and frontier spirit.
Leslie Seidel
Leslie Seidel
Leslie has served the Healing Reins board for several years leveraging her expertise in organizational management. Beyond her professional role, she is deeply committed to her role as a mother to her exceptional 10-year-old son, who navigates the challenges of autism. Introduced to the transformative services provided by Healing Reins at the age of 4, her son continues to thrive under their care.
Witnessing firsthand the invaluable impact Healing Reins has had on her family, Leslie is driven by a profound desire to contribute meaningfully to the organization’s mission. She endeavors to extend the reach of Healing Reins’ services to all individuals who stand to benefit from their therapeutic interventions.
Leslie Rust
Dr. Leslie Rust
Leslie grew up in Tennessee and was an avid horse lover and pony clubber from her early years. She experienced first-hand the many benefits of horses to a human’s overall well-being. Her quarter horse, Chief, was her best teacher with regards to self-confidence, patience, and persistence. Horses have always been her passion, and she loves witnessing their positive impact on people’s lives.
Her career pursuits resulted in less time for riding, as she moved on to medical school and then pediatric residency in Colorado. She moved to Bend to join her dream pediatric practice at COPA. Now, she is excited to bring together her love of horses with her passion for caring for our communities’ youngest patients. She has long been an advocate for Healing Reins in her practice and looks forward to directly supporting their mission. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, rafting, and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, and dog.
Erica Rubalcaba
More information coming soon!
Christy Gmeiner
Advisory Board
Marc Redman
Marc has been a member of Healing Reins board since 2015, when he returned to the Pacific Northwest after many years in the Midwest / East Coast working in leadership roles with the U.S. Army, Lucent Technologies and, most recently, Siemens Healthineers. He grew up in Eastern Washington and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his graduate degrees (Masters of Engineering Management – McCormick, Masters of Business Administration – Kellogg) from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Marc is currently working on several start-up entrepreneurial opportunities in the outdoor industry while supporting the local community, serving serval years as board chair with Healing Reins and as a volunteer with the Deschutes County Search & Rescue team.
Adam Nichols
Adam is the Manager of Database Administration for DealerSocket, a leading automotive industry CRM tool based in Dallas, TX. He has been with the company since 2006 and has worked remotely from Bend since 2013. He’s a founder and volunteer leader of Frontline Families, a community-wide adoptive/foster family support group through Westside Church in Bend. Adam loves to fish the rivers and lakes, taste the craft beers and run the trails of Central Oregon every chance he gets. His wife Dani has been a certified therapeutic horsemanship instructor for over a decade and has been on staff at Healing Reins since 2013. They have two children through adoption (Adelay and Isaiah) and a small ranch east of Bend. ‘Adam is a passionate supporter of Healing Reins and owns two program’s horses.
Graham Dent
Graham is a commercial real estate broker with Compass Commercial Real Estate Services, serving clients and partners all over Central Oregon. Graham’s work engages him in the activities of the local government and private sectors making him an important advocate for Healing Reins in the community. Although Graham is an Oregon native, he earned his BA from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and spent more than 12 years of his career in Seattle working for one of the largest real estate investment advisory firms in the world. He relocated to Bend in 2013 to realize his dream of raising his family in Central Oregon and hasn’t looked back! He is excited about the opportunity to serve on this local non-profit board whose mission is to directly serve those in its community. He was drawn to Healing Reins because of its unique mission to heal people with horses; a simple but powerful purpose that people can instinctively understand even without experiencing it.
Volunteer at
Healing Reins
It is thanks to our dedicated and hard-working team of volunteers that we are able to provide our participants with the hope and healing they deserve. From preparing for and working in lessons to caring for our beautiful facility, to working behind the scenes doing administrative work, our talented volunteers make our world go round!