Who was the old man?

[CSteefel]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

The disappearance of the horses WAS actually a deed of the old man, whoever it was, or it was at least connected to his presence. The horses met Shadowfax only a bit LATER (and likely, he saved them from fleeing wildly into the plains). And in either case, what link would there be between Shadowfax over there and the projection of Gandalf by the fire? Actually, the presence of Shadowfax (well, "presence" - he was pretty far away) may have been a reason for the old man (as Saruman) to go away before some "White Rider" comes...

I would still trust Gandalf's wisdom and think that the old man was Saruman, whether in person or just a "projection".

I like this idea. The horses may well have been spooked by the old man, and then kept from running off completely by the appearance of Shadowfax.

Of course the other possibility is that, if the old man is in fact a phantom, that he did not appear to the horses at all and their only encounter was with Shadowfax.

In any case, it makes no real sense for either Gandalf or Radagast to run off when invited by Aragorn to join the party. Only Saruman makes sense here, and he has the best motivation to be there (in physical or phantom form), since he is trying to find out what happened to his Orc party...