I believe the limitation is more for flavor than anything else. It's meant to be a mount, so any creature that can't act as a mount probably shouldn't be a valid choice.
The restriction is horse, pony, boar, camel, or dog. With the provisional reminder, that the GM can always allow something else.
Personally when I am a Gm I keep the restriction unless there is a good reason to remove it.
Such as a Ranger of Erastil asking for a elk animal companion instead of the normally restricted ranger list.
Regardless of anything else, the creature should be something that can be ridden so I would say a medium size paladin couldn't take a wolf as their mount because they can't ride it.
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The restriction is horse, pony, boar, camel, or dog. With the provisional reminder, that the GM can always allow something else.
Personally when I am a Gm I keep the restriction unless there is a good reason to remove it.
Such as a Ranger of Erastil asking for a elk animal companion instead of the normally restricted ranger list.
Regardless of anything else, the creature should be something that can be ridden so I would say a medium size paladin couldn't take a wolf as their mount because they can't ride it.
I'd say that... but if I were the GM I'd open up medium mounts for a medium creature if they had the Undersized Mount feat. Mostly because I'm a nice guy like that.
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Would you allow them to summon it but not actually ride it in that situation? Using as an animal companion?
The mount class feature does not actually have to be ridden as a mount. It is for all intents and purposes a regular animal companion but with a limited selection of animals.
So, yes. They wouldn't have to ride the animal they just have to qualify for the companion.
The summoning thing just lets you teleport it across a chasm, up a cliff etc.. So if there is an obstacle it can't pass you aren't later deprived of it. Or you can leave it in a nice, comfy stable till you need to mount up and charge the Forces of Darkness...
Would you allow them to summon it but not actually ride it in that situation? Using as an animal companion?
Mounts follow the exact same rules as animal companions, it's merely that the "mount" list is a restricted subset of creatures because the other animal companions are generally more powerful than those listed in the mount section. This is because those classes which get mounts (and also rangers even though there's is called animal companion) are full BAB classes that have a significant amount of combat ability on their own. So the list is restricted to less powerful animals as a means of balance.
While you do not have to ride the mount, I would say that you must be able to ride the animal (even if you don't intend to do so) to select it.