I would agree completely with Cusco apart from one important point -
and go with an instructor or at the very least someone who does plenty of strip flying.
Apart from the career instructors, most instructors out there will probably never have landed on a strip - The second option is probably more viable.
When checking out, I have found that If a pilot has been trained or is flying from long tarmac runways then it usually blows their mind - they are not used to short runways with trees and hedges in close proximity. I have found otherwise experienced pilots who literally go to bits on finals.
Because of this, I now go nowhere near the strip initially - Chose a small grass airfield (Fenland or Derby are ideal) and see what happens!
Speed control amongst a lot of pilots can be dire - unstabilised and too fast and there is usually very little concept of landing at the right speed on the numbers to gain the maximum length available. This does not matter on a large tarmac runway, but is VITAL on most strips, although to be fair, the last guy I attempted to check out was an AFI with a frozen ATPL and he was desperate - Worst ever!
We will do several circuits (at the proper airfield) where we are looking for the ability to fly a tight, speed stable circuit and to land and be stopped before the half way point without trashing the brakes or nosewheel. If that all works out then we try the strip!