A Gentle Riley Riddle

Question

...although I hope the difficulty is not too severe (but you just never fully know on this site!).

My prefix serves a trotter, that of which is not a horse.

My suffix might find water, at the tunnel's end by force.

My infix hates a robber, for they find another course.

My meaning is an honour, truly felt with no remorse.

What am I?

The answer is 8 letters long, and the title is a clue.

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I think this is hard, especially the middle two lines, so I will provide a hint (with some extra clues in there as well):

Hint:

My suffix serves a want, not necessarily a need;
A golden lamp is thought, although a tunnel could succeed.
Quite often, light ain't sought, because a roof may shield the seed.
Above, the ring is short; below is where it has to lead.

My infix ain't complete, because it misses first and last;
Though this is not deceit, because when heard it's unsurpassed.
Use hands and not your feet, and then a question may be asked.
Once open, meet and greet; unless expected from the past.

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I will be accepting an answer if (and only if!) it explains every clue (apart from the hint, because that is optional).

Answer 1

I think the answer might be

Innocent

My prefix serves a trotter, that of which is not a horse.

Inn - This is the one about which I'm most unsure. The other common animal which has trotters (other than a horse) is a pig and pig's trotters (pettitoe) is a dish that you might find served in an inn.

My suffix might find water, at the tunnel's end by force.

Cent - The notion here is throwing a penny/cent down a wishing well to make your wish come true. The force here is gravity and the well is described as a (vertical) tunnel with water at the end. The hint helped on this one.

My infix hates a robber, for they find another course.

Noc - Robbers don't tend to knock to gain entry to a house, instead opting to find another route. Notice here the first and last letters of knock are absent but the word can be pronounced the same. The hint helped here as well.

My meaning is an honour, truly felt with no remorse.

One meaning of the word innocent is "free from moral wrong" which is an honourable state and would certainly be felt with no remorse.

Hint

My suffix serves a want, not necessarily a need;
This indicates the act of throwing money into a wishing well. Note that a wish is a want, not a need.

A golden lamp is thought, although a tunnel could succeed.
Usually a wish is associated with a genie in a lamp but a well also works

Quite often, light ain't sought, because a roof may shield the seed.
Wells are often covered over, to protect from theft or evaporation

Above, the ring is short; below is where it has to lead.
This is a general physical description of the shape of the well.

My infix ain't complete, because it misses first and last;
Noc is knock without the first and last letters

Though this is not deceit, because when heard it's unsurpassed.
Noc and knock are homophones.

Use hands and not your feet, and then a question may be asked.
"Knock, knock". "Who's there?"

Once open, meet and greet; unless expected from the past.
Describing meeting somebody for the first time who knocks at the door or possibly someone expected.

Also notice the emboldened Once in the hint which is also an anagram of an infix and sh in shield which may point to a wish.