Sam Churchill - Equine and Human Sports Therapy

07/10/2025

Equine Sports Massage: Supporting Recovery, Wellness & Winter Comfort

As the competition season comes to a close, now is the ideal time to focus on your horse’s recovery and overall well-being. Months of training, travel, and performance can leave muscles tight, fatigued, or imbalanced. An equine sports massage helps your horse transition smoothly into the off-season — feeling relaxed, restored, and ready for whatever comes next.

🍂 End of Season Care

After months of hard work, your horse’s body deserves focused attention. Sports therapy:
• Encourages muscle recovery and reduces residual tension
• Supports circulation and lymphatic flow to aid natural healing
• Identifies areas of tightness or restriction before they develop into discomfort or injury
• Promotes mental relaxation, reducing stress and improving overall demeanor

Regular post-season body work helps maintain physical balance and sets the foundation for a stronger return next season.

❄️ Winter Wellness

Winter often means lighter workloads and reduced turnout, but that doesn’t mean your horse’s muscles stop needing care. During colder months, treatments can:

• Help maintain muscle tone and flexibility when exercise is limited
• Keeps joints and soft tissue supple despite lower temperatures
• Boost circulation, supporting the immune system and overall vitality
• Provide a gentle, positive way to monitor your horse’s physical condition through the winter

Keeping up with massage sessions through the off-season ensures your horse stays comfortable, healthy, and ready to ramp up training when spring returns.

🧊 Cold Muscle Care

Cold weather can cause muscles to tighten and joints to stiffen — especially in older horses or those with previous injuries. Massage warms and softens tissue, increasing blood flow and reducing stiffness. This helps prevent cold-related strains and keeps movement fluid and pain-free.

❗️Why Choose Equine Sports Massage?
Equine massage is a natural, non-invasive therapy that complements veterinary and training programs. It supports performance, recovery, and overall comfort — making it an essential part of your horse’s year-round care plan.

01/10/2025

Since we have introduced Dry Needling in to alignchirocornwall we have had so many positive responses and many returning for regular body work sessions with those magic little pins. But how does it work?

Dry needling is a therapeutic technique used to treat muscle pain, stiffness, and dysfunction. It involves inserting a thin, solid filament needle into trigger points or areas of tight muscle. Here’s how it works in the body:

1. Trigger Point Disruption
• Many muscle aches come from “trigger points”— ‘knots’ within a taut band of muscle fibers.
• Inserting a needle into these points can cause a local twitch response (a brief, involuntary muscle contraction), which helps reset the muscle fibers and reduce tension

2. Neurological Effects
• The needle stimulates sensory nerve endings, sending signals to the brain and spinal cord.
• This can alter how the nervous system processes pain, effectively “resetting” pain pathways and decreasing sensitivity (called neuromodulation).

3. Circulation & Healing
• A trigger point is often poorly perfused (low blood flow).
• Dry needling creates a tiny injury that increases local blood flow, oxygen delivery, and nutrient exchange, promoting tissue repair and reducing metabolic waste that contributes to pain.

4. Chemical Changes
• Studies show needling reduces concentrations of irritating chemicals and it boosts the release of natural pain-relieving chemicals such as endorphins.

5. Muscle Relaxation
• By disrupting the abnormal electrical activity at the trigger point, dry needling can help a tight muscle return to its normal resting length, reducing stiffness and improving mobility.

What it helps with:
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Neck and back pain
• Shoulder and hip tightness
• Headaches related to muscle tension
• Sports injuries

Not the same as acupuncture:
Although both use thin needles, acupuncture is based on traditional Chinese medicine meridians, while dry needling is based on modern anatomy and neurophysiology.

Interested? Call to book 01872 719315

29/09/2025

Sports therapy plays a vital role in supporting both horse and rider by promoting physical health, improving performance, and contributing to long-term well-being. With a focus on prevention and recovery, specialised techniques can address imbalances, reduce the risk of injury, and support peak performance for both athletes.

Research indicates that around 80% of riders experience pain, most commonly in the neck, shoulders, and back. If left unmanaged, this discomfort can reduce range of motion, impair concentration, and cause fatigue—all of which have a direct impact on sporting performance.

By investing in effective sports therapy, both horse and rider can train and compete at their best while protecting their long-term health

Get booked yourselves booked in for optimum performance

22/09/2025

Great notes to consider as we are sadly dipping our toe in to winter

Thank you to the Animal Therapy Network who put in an informative Saturday evening. With retired FEI vet and Connie breeder Dr Keiran O'Brian.

The subject was 'The stabled horse, how can we do better?'

Now some might say simply don't stable but realistically that is often not an option for horse owners with limited land and space. Yes we know horses are better turned out but the thing about this talk was, it wasn't a preach of YOU MUST, YOU MUST NOT, but instead an educated guidance of how we can do better for the horse if we have to stable them.

What I have learnt in life, if you want to make change.....lecturing, demeaning, insistent and opinionated attitudes don't encourage change. They just encourage bad feeling and distance.

The positive guidance and education of this evening of how and why we can do better for our horses is definitely the way forward

Main take aways..........
👉Horses need to sleep. Horses sleep better on big beds especially straw beds rather than little litre trays at the back of the stable. For them to sleep well they must lie in their sides.
👉It is proven that if a horse can touch another whilst stabled stress is reduced. Allow nose contact.
👉Hay, haylage and roughage should be considered the main feed and any hard feed should be thought of as desert....it is often the other way round.
👉Sugar beet contains (can't remember what it is ) an ulcer reducing preventing property BUT it will only work if sugar beet is not fed as a sloppy watery slop.
YES you must soak it still but only so that you can hand squeeze the water from it .
👉It is proven that dampening a horses feed is not ideal. They need to chew dry feed that produces their own saliva and therefore reduces stomach acid.
OK some horses are fed damp feed to reduce choke but these horses perhaps are prone to it. Most horses shouldn't choke if he chews dry feed with his head down.

Food for thought.

Look out for the next ATN evening. Therapists and professionals first but then it often opes to the public.



Picture is from students attending BHS Stage 1 course last Spring. Keep an eye out for dates for Stage 2 Stable Management

17/09/2025

Lets talk Dry Needling -

Firstly, what is Dry Needling?

Dry needling is an evidenced based treatment provided to help with pain, stiffness, and target trigger points within tight muscles.
Very thin, sterile needles are placed into specific spots in your muscles to help them relax and heal.

How can it help?

Dry needling can:

• Relieve pain and discomfort
• Improve mobility and flexibility
• Reduce muscle tightness and spasms
• Support tissue healing and recovery
• Enhance the effects of physical therapy

What Will It Feel Like?

• You may feel a small scratch when the needle goes in.
• Sometimes, you might feel a quick muscle twitch or a mild ache — this usually means the muscle is responding.
• After treatment, you may feel sore for a day or two, like after exercising.

Is It Safe?

Dry needling is generally very safe. Most side effects are mild, such as muscle soreness or small bruises.

When performed correctly, dry needling can be a safe and effective way to restore function and support long-term wellness.

Interested in learning if this treatment is right for you? Contact us at Align Chiropractic Cornwall today to schedule an appointment - 01872 719315

24/06/2025

Sports therapy is beneficial for several reasons—especially for athletes or those physically active. Its primary aim is to optimise performance, prevent injury, and support recovery. Here are some of the key benefits:

⸻

1. Improved Circulation
• Increases blood flow, helping deliver more oxygen and nutrients to muscles.
• Helps remove metabolic waste (like lactic acid), which can build up after intense activity.

2. Enhanced Recovery
• Reduces muscle soreness and stiffness (especially DOMS—Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
• Promotes faster healing of muscle and connective tissue injuries.

3. Injury Prevention
• Identifies and treats tight or imbalanced muscles before they lead to injury.
• Maintains or improves muscle flexibility and joint mobility.

4. Pain Relief
• Alleviates chronic or acute pain, especially in overused or strained muscles.
• Triggers the release of endorphins and other natural painkillers.

5. Mental Benefits
• Reduces stress and anxiety, especially pre-competition.
• Enhances mental clarity and focus through relaxation and body awareness.

6. Performance Enhancement
• Prepares the body for peak performance by warming up muscles and increasing range of motion.
• Can be used post-event to promote quicker physical and mental recovery.

⸻

Types of Sports Massage (Depending on Timing):
• Pre-event: Stimulating and fast-paced to prepare the body.
• Post-event: Slower and calming to reduce soreness and aid recovery.
• Maintenance: Regular sessions to keep muscles healthy and injury-free.
• Rehabilitation: For treating injuries and supporting recovery.

For equine treatments, message to book

For human treatments, contact alignchirocornwall

26/03/2025

The season is upon us; are you ready?

Sports therapy is an integral part of any athletic diary for optimum performance, peak mobility, injury prevention or rehabilitation.

For equine appointments please message 😊

For rider appointment please follow the link:

https://alignchirocornwall.co.uk/

17/01/2025

So excited to say I am now based at Align Chiropractic in Truro for all human bodywork.
With me on the soft tissue, the amazing Sarah is there for all the adjustments and chiropractic work to keep everyone mobile and injury free!

Horses are not forgotten, they are a very important feature in the diary too; Get yourself booked in for the pre season MOT.

Outstanding Chiropractic and Massage.
Relief. Recover. Reform.
Empowering you to improve your over

04/12/2024

5th Dec