>Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo, Rett and friends,
>
>thanks, Rett, you are right. I think the author may just implies "I
>(would) like to mount the horse." I can either add the (would) in the
>English and use icchati; or leave the sentence as it is and use
>ruccati; or add an explanation for the choice of word in the
>footnote. What do you think?

I supppose you could go either way. The original sentence sounds a
bit odd in English, though it's hard to say exactly why. Of the
alternatives you suggest I'd probably amend the exercise sentence to
'I'd like to mount...' and translate icchati. But both seem okay.

best regards,

/Rett