I would think the basic situation is clear enough: it was Saruman, come to meet his raiding party, excited that they might be bringing him the Ring and worried in case someone (one of the Uruks?) started to take an interest in it. He had a quick look at the three, and scared off their horses to prevent them pursuing him, but the beasts coincidentally encountered Shadowfax and were not panicked off. There is no way Gandalf would have been dissembling - he just wouldn't, and in any case what possible reason would he have for this? It was never picked up. The answer to the apparent confusion lies in Tolkien's literary and dramatic purpose at this point: we think it's Saruman (which it is), and expect trouble; the old man (apparently) reappears and serious trouble looks imminent. But it's Gandalf! Huge and pleasant surprise - Tolkien's beloved eucatastrophe.

I don't believe that Gandalf would directly lie to the Three friends. I can think of no instance where he said that left was right, but he might have said left was East. Thus, it would be up to interpretation. It may well not have been Gandalf at the sighting, but what if it was Olorin? Left is not right, but it could be East.
Her's another reason to jump on me. Let's say it was Bombadil checking up on the Hobbits and his old pal, Fangorn. Wears a hat; pretty tricky in the woods;doesn't like to get involved;animals would treat him as a friend [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]