It was a sign of the lack of vanity in his composition that Gatacre took so long to find out that there was anything exceptional about himself, but it is now admitted on all sides that his capacity for work was far in excess of the average. According to Mr. G. W. Steevens in 1898, "his body was all steel wire." He was certainly lean and light; at sixty he discovered to his great satisfaction that his weight was the same, ten stone two, as it had been as a subaltern in Peshawur. In appearance also he changed very little, looking always about ten years younger than his age. His back was short in proportion to the length of his limbs, which gave the impression of a shorter man than he measured, but at the same time this was the secret of his graceful seat on a horse, and of his extraordinary walking powers. Like the good horses that he loved to bestride, Gatacre was fast and free, and had the staying powers of the thorough-bred animal; it was inevitable that such a one should be sometimes difficult to "follow," and that other men should occasionally feel that he called upon them for exertions that were beyond their powers. His whole heart was in his profession; and with the material that was now under his hand he developed an aptitude for the practical training of both officers and men. Acting on ideas suggested by the recent camp at Bangalore, {58} he initiated small field-days at Secunderabad, in which one major with one half-battalion was pitted against another with the remainder. This was before the days of staff-rides and annual camps of exercise, and was so much of a novelty that his adjutant writes that many of his officers "learnt more of the art of organising manoeuvres, drawing up schemes, and issuing orders than it was then possible to do at the Staff College." Moreover, to accompany Gatacre on a field-day was a lesson in horsemanship. He had two capital Arab ponies, and would often lend the spare one to his adjutant or galloper. No obstacle stopped him, though sometimes these clever little animals were expected to move over the most impossible-looking country--craggy hills, big rocks and boulders, and the steep sides of deep nullahs. If really pounded, he would slip off and lead or drive his pony, until at the earliest moment he would be on its back again. [Sidenote: 1885] His gift for administration was further exercised in perfecting the regulations for the rapid turn-out of the Movable Column which had its base at Secunderabad: every little detail was most carefully thought out on the lines of a far larger mobilisation, and every man knew exactly where he had to go, and what he had to do, whenever he should hear the "Alarm."