Range for paladin to dismiss his mount?

[Quasqueton]

A summoned mount appears adjacent to the paladin. But does the paladin have to be adjacent to the special mount to dismiss it?

Special Mount (Sp): Upon reaching 5th level, a paladin gains the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against evil (see below). This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paladin) or a warpony (for a Small paladin).

Once per day, as a full-round action, a paladin may magically call her mount from the celestial realms in which it resides. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third the paladin’s level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the paladin and remains for 2 hours per paladin level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the paladin may release a particular mount from service.

Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.

Should the paladin’s mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. The paladin may not summon another mount for thirty days or until she gains a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, the paladin takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Quasqueton

 

[Thanee]

You must be within range of the spell’s effect and must speak words of dismissal, which are usually a modified form of the spell’s verbal component. If the spell has no verbal component, you can dismiss the effect with a gesture.

Since the ability works like a spell, I would say this applies.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Quasqueton]

Thanks. We hadn't really been thinking about a range for the dismissal until last game session when it became a potential battle tactic. I let the paladin do it at range (~20') that time, but afterward, with more thought, what you quoted is what I was thinking too. That dismissal ability is not the sweet save-your-mount's-butt-in-the-nick-of-time thing that we had thought it could be.

Quasqueton