Personally, I just hate rides with alot of "away" checks. I rarely have a
pit crew, and I find that my horses and myself are a whole lot more
comfortable if we can spend the hold by a trailer they are familiar with,
with their buckets, and their hay, and water from home. This also allows
for any equipment changes. If I want to pull my sports medicine boots
off, I would much rather leave them at my trailer than at an away check
and hope they come back. Or I can change to a fresh saddle pad, etc.
Sure, I can send buckets and such out with a truck or someone else's crew
to an away check, but I
have spent the entire hold looking for them before. So my horses don't
get their hay or mash, and I don't get my lunch. I've never been happy
about this.
My horses have always seemed more relaxed and done better when checks
were in camp with surroundings they had been somewhat familiarized with.
Laura Szeremi-Trouse
Auburn, AL
Vet Student