New conjurer. Mount vs Summon I

[Elkad]

Mount: You summon a light horse or a pony (your choice) to serve you as a mount. The steed serves willingly and well. The mount comes with a bit and bridle and a riding saddle.

At 1hr/level for a 3HD horse, why would you bother with Summon Monster I for a weaker creature that lasts for a single round?

Sure, I can't ride the horse while it fights (since it isn't a warhorse), but other than that am I missing something?

[Demonic Spoon]

Creatures summoned by Summon Monster will attack your enemies to the best of their ability, and if you can communicate with them, you can tell them to do other stuff.

A mount is just an animal. It is not going to, by its very nature, attack your enemies for you. The only "training" it has is how to be a mount.

[Kazudo]

Summon Monster I gives you Celestial or Fiendish creatures. Celestial creatures can smite evil 1/day for 1 extra damage. They also get SR, some resistances and an INT score. That being said, if you can't communicate with the creature, you can't direct it to do anything other than attack your opponents to the best of its ability.

Mount gives you a horse. You can disembark from this horse and it do half-decent damage with a small attack penalty, or you can ride the thing for a speed of 300 feet per second. If you have a lance of some form, you're doing more damage and such. However, it takes Handle Animal to make the horse do anything really.

Both spells are meh. Between the two, Summon Monster can give you aquatic or aviary might in a fight even if it is only for 1 round/CL. A horse is still just a horse. Which is a horse, of course.

[Elkad]

OK, so I need Handle Animal to make the horse attack. How about just having it block a hallway? Will it fight back on it's own without a handle check if something attacks it?

Summon just seems near-useless at L1

Oh, and if I take Rapid Summoning, would Summon last an extra round (since I didn't spend a whole round conjuring it?)

[eggynack]

Summon just seems near-useless at L1

Pretty much, though you can have it manipulate objects or fall into traps. Rounds/level spells are usually going to be pretty underwhelming when that means a round. Such is the way of things.


Oh, and if I take Rapid Summoning, would Summon last an extra round (since I didn't spend a whole round conjuring it?)

No, I don't think it would.