Mount Attacks but Rider Doesn't

[kyrt-ryder]

I was having a very deep conversation regarding the capabilities of mounts [and what exactly Combat Trained is required for] and I can't for the life of me figure out what a Rider must do in order to get a mount to attack when he has no interest in attacking himself.

The rider in question can easily keep at least one if not two hands on the reigns.

The Mount doesn't require a specific trick for a rider to direct it to attack does it?

[Apraham Lincoln]

You need handle animal(see skills, its all handled there) trick of attack to attack humanoids, animals etc. You need the attack all trick (-edit actually the attack trick twice) to attack more unnatural things like undead and abominations and the like. Combat trained is a catch-all of a few combat themed tricks (including the attack trick but not the attack all trick).

Depending on your class, directing to attack could be a move action or a free action (if you get a mount as an animal companion, the 1st level ability Link allows you to direct as a move action)

You can "push" an animal to make it do a trick it doesnt already know. This requires an full round action (or move action if you have the link ability from animal companio) and the animal performs it on its next turn