Darcy laughed a little with her; he was suddenly remembering a million lessons of how to simply get on the damn horse, but of course he'd been a lot shorter. "It really does not, they do not have minds of their own for one thing," he told her, and then realised that wasn't reassuring at all. "It will be fine," he added.
"Unless they have been trained for perhaps a left-handed rider, most horses you will always mount from their right," he told her, guiding her round to Annie's right side and giving the horse a reassuring pat as they moved. "I was kicked as a child trying the wrong side, I would not recommend it," he added. It was a longer story than just being a silly child, but he didn't go into it at that exact moment.
"You put your right foot into the stirrup," he told her, moving to hold said stirrup still for her first attempt.