According to Wikipedia, “six degrees of separation” is the hypothesis that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries.

Sometimes, it takes less than five. And when horses enter into the equation, the whole world can become closer. Take the case of Brad Mitchell and me. Brad’s father, cutting horse trainer Jim Mitchell, (pictured) and I both taught at Danville High School, Danville, Indiana, within a few years of each other in the late 1960s.

Jim still lives in Danville and buys his hay from the man who was superintendent of schools, when we both taught there.