Equine Sensation Monty Roberts Leads Off National Animal Supplement Council's 2012 Annual Conference

VALLEY CENTER, CA--(Marketwire - Nov 1, 2011) - Three-time New York Times bestselling author and award-winning trainer of championship horses, Monty Roberts will headline the National Animal Supplement Council's (NASC) annual conference May 8-11, 2012, at the Town and Country Resort and Conference Center in San Diego.

Roberts is an award-winning trainer of championship horses, bestselling author of, "The Man Who Listens to Horses," Hollywood stunt man (stand-in rider and stunt double for Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet" and worked alongside James Dean during the pre-production and filming of "East of Eden") and creator of the world-renowned and revolutionary equine training technique and philosophy called, "Join~Up." Over his vast career, Roberts has received countless awards and worldwide press coverage including documentaries about his training techniques on PBS and BBC television networks, and was personally recruited by Queen Elizabeth II to train her equestrian team in London.

Disenchanted from watching his father "break" horses using traditional methods involving pain, control, fear and coercion, at the age of 13, Roberts devoted himself to extensive study and observation of wild horses. This lead to his discovery that horses use a discernable, effective and predictable body language to communicate set boundaries, show fear and express annoyance, relaxation or affection. Roberts used their silent language as his platform for a much more effective and humane training method, encouraging true partnership between horses and humans. This moment of partnership he coined, "Join~Up," has become the foundation of all his work with horses and people.

"At the heart of NASC is compassion towards animals and Monty Roberts exemplifies this within the equine industry," says Bill Bookout, president of NASC, the nonprofit industry trade association that works on behalf of concerned and committed providers of animal health supplements, supply chain partners and state, federal and international government officials to create a regulatory environment that is fair, reasonable, responsible and nationally consistent to protect and enhance the integrity of animal health products. "We are very pleased and excited about our entire lineup of experts for the conference."

NASC members make up 90 percent of the animal health supplement industry. Workshops and training will provide executives with the most current regulatory updates and business trends and strategies from leading experts including:

• Gloria Dunnavan, former compliance director for the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine;
• Robert Schult, co-founder of private equity firm VMG Partners and former president/COO of Nestle USA;
• Kim Randall Pearson, former legal counsel to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the FDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
• Anthony Zolezzi, entrepreneur of socially conscious ventures with organizations such as: Waste Management, Nestle Purina Pet Care and The Humane Society of the United States;
• Patrick Rea, publisher of Nutrition Business Journal, providing in-depth research reports and authoritative data and analysis to leaders and decision makers in the nutrition business;
• Marie S. Lemaire, B. Pharm., D. Hom., manager, Veterinary Natural Health Products Team,Veterinary Drugs Directorate, Clinical Evaluation Division at Health Canada;
• Tim Herman, PhD, director, and Ben Jones, associate director, Feed and Fertilizer Control Service, Office of the Texas State Chemist; and
• Mark Levine, senior attorney for the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, responsible for all the investigations for the NAD on supplements advertising.

NASC will also honor deserving companies and individuals within the animal health supplement industry during a special awards dinner on May 10. Sponsors for the conference include: Alkemists Labs, Bio-Cat Inc., Eurofins Scientific Inc., Foodscience Corp., The Garmon Corporation, HBH Pet Products, Kemin Industries Inc., North American Compendiums Inc., Pharmore Ingredients Inc., Ridley Feed Ingredients, Trouw Nutrition International, TSI Inc and Uckele Health & Nutrition Inc. Eligible sponsors must be preferred suppliers of NASC. For sponsorship opportunities or more information on registration, call 760-751-3360, and visit, www.animalsupplements.org.