In reply to robs123:
I was on the Obergabelhorn on the 7th and Zinalrothorn on the 8th. Conditions were perfect, albeit there was clearly snow on the upper section of the Hornli ridge. The Matterhorn would certainly have been climable, but harder than "normal".
Your guide would have to make a judgement based on your ability. If you were a strong climber, then he may have decided to go ahead. But, if you had limited experience, he may have decided you would take too long. You have nothing on your profile to indicate your level of experience, so it's impossible to judge.
I did it two years ago and there was more snow than recently. We did it in poor weather on Sep 1st (2015) and there were only 6 guides. Obviously, they trusted their particular clients to get up and down safely in those conditions (although one pair turned back halfway). We were the only non guided pair to summit that day.
The day before, however, was perfect and there were dozens of parties, some getting back as early as midday. In other words, in similar conditions at the same time of year the mountain was crawling with guides and clients, summiting in good time.
Based on that, I would say that your guide must have judged you to be a weak climber. There is a risk that he didn't trust you to get up and down in any case. I would check this out, as you may be wasting your time and money.
Post edited at 08:38