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Monstrous Mount would definitely be a good way to go. Griffons make powerful companions. You would have to run it by a GM first since Bonded Mount isn't technically a class feature that meets the prereqs of Monstrous Mount. Technically you need the divine bond (mount), hunter’s bond (animal companion), or mount class feature. If your GM is a stickler, an easy fix is to level dip in Cavalier, and your Nature Oracle levels and Cavalier levels should stack for the purposes of meeting the prereqs.
With an Int of 6 it's easy to convince a GM to allow the companion to be a mostly independent thinker; they would be able to distinguish friend from foe and determine with the almost same rationale as a standard barbarian whether or not they should attack. Telling your Animal Companion to do something off-script (e.g. not something that Handle Animal covers) usually means you have to use the handle animal push action to get them to do so. While technically you still have to, as a GM I wouldn't force someone to do that if their companion has that high of an intelligence.
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I ran it by my dm a while back and he said the Anicomp would function like a normal PC. They'd simply have the animal type.
But yeah, I was discussing that monstrous mount line with another player on here, and though it wouldn't come online until about 7th level, it's still useful to a degree.
I was even thinking about going spirit guide Oracle, and doing a divine version of the silver bullet mage on a mount.
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Eh, with the right set up, Monstrous Mount can come online as early as 5th level- Some of the options are better than 7th level advancement regular companions.
Humans, Half-Orcs, and Halflings have the alternate racial options to boost stats of their choice for the companion, and the Totem Beast feat makes for a good feat to boost their abilities as well.
Spirit Guide is awesome to pair with a companion: Being able to pick up spells like Heroism that normally aren't available to you is really good.
Up to level 7 as a spirit guide I'd do this:
-Go with one of the three races I mentioned, bump the Str by +2
1) Revelation: Nature's Whispers, feat: Extra Revelation (Bonded Mount)
3) Totem Beast (Bear[+2 Con, and when your companion has 8 hit dice, +4])
5) Monstrous Mount
7) Monstrous Mount Mastery
Use your wonderful Oracle buff spells like divine favor (If your companion isn't feat starved, consider the Additional Traits feat for Fate's Favored and Indomitable Faith), Heroism (obtainable through Ancestor Spirit Oracle), Divine Power and so on to make your companion a real powerhouse.
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Hey, here's something.
An Oracle of Erastil would have access to the Ancestors, Nature, and Wood spirits. Woods kinda meh, but the Ancestors and Nature spirits make for good support lines. I wish he had more mysteries though.
The only other deity with a nature mystery is Gozreh, which has:
Heavens - good for crowd control and battlefield support
Life - backup healing
Nature - Storm Burst is the only reason why I'd want this
Waves - situational with a no cmd check push
Wind - meh
Wood - meh
Do you know if there are other nature mystery deities?
Edit: completely overlooked hexes, brb
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Update:
Ancestors has ancestral blessing and wisdom of the ages, both of which synergize with the knowledge aspect and support aspect of the above archetype and the nature mystery.
Heavens has heavens leap and lure of the heavens. Situational
Life has awesome healing stuff, but thats already known.
Nature has Friend to Animals and entangling curse, both of which are situational.
Waves has Mists Shroud which is the same as nature's spirit ability.
Wind has air barrier for ac, sparking aura for an offensive support debuff, and wind ward for anti arrows.
Lastly, wood has hex of lignification (sounds awesome), verdant path (kinda nice, but not always useful), and whispering leaves (situational).
Basically, Gozreh has options and niche stuff. Erastil has less options, but more meaningful abilities.
Just to point out a really powerful option for a mounted character: take one level of Sohei Monk, and take Mounted Skirmisher as the bonus feat (Monk Bonus Feats ignore prerequisites, so Sohei can grab Mounted Skirmisher at level 1).
Besides the incredible usefulness of Mounted Skirmisher, Sohei also allows using Flurry of Blows in armor. So with or without a mount, you can use a Temple Sword or 9-Ring Broadsword with Flurry of Blows while wearing mithral medium armor. Combined with Mounted Skirmisher, you can make sword-flurry full attacks while moving as soon as you take a level of Sohei.