I suspect this story is going to horrify people, but I feel (even if he never knows it) that the horse deserves the praise (I was the idiot). Long.
We dabble in horse logging, due to a lot of reasons the mechanized equipment is paying the bills at the moment (horses can’t clear 40 acres of old farm land for a solar field efficiently). But, that is the purpose of our horses.
I had Buddy out today, ground driving to go down to the wood lot with an aim at some fire wood. Buddy is a 12 year old Shire gelding, with a troubled history. I cannot safely put him in shafts as a single, riding is sketchy, and when anxious his go to is double barreled kicking with good aim…which at a true 2000 pounds of draft is a bad idea as my left femur will always attest to… But, we’ve worked out an understanding. And he is amazing at ground driving, which is fine for pulling logs, so that is what we do. (I get more exercise too!)
Now, I’ve had horses over corduroy roads before; corduroy roads are traditionally built using round pole woods laid perpendicular to travel to keep horses or vehicles out of wet areas. Generally you are always looking at wood that is at least 12 ft long and strong enough to carry heavy equipment. With pole wood, it is usually one layer (though old broken layers are beneath that) and very stable. But, this time the section had been built out of flat slab wood, freshly cut. So it was dry, flat, and laid in several layers to build up the required strength that a single pole layer would have had. In other words, it could move. And did.
He got up on that section. The slabs shifted. And both front feet were now caught a couple layers down, because of course the slabs shifted, his feet went down, and then the slabs shifted back. He was pinned at both front fetlocks. Thankfully, his back feet were only just onto the slabs and still on relatively stable wood.
Everything froze. He looked back at me. I looked at him. I briefly contemplated the fact that I had no phone and DH was not expecting me back anytime soon. And I said, ‘I’m sorry. Buddy, back. You have to back.’
And darn it all if that horse didn’t carefully shift his weight and pull one foot after another out. He essentially had to rear in place repeatedly to make it happen. There was no panic, no sideways movement or thrashing. We backed out, swung around, and I gave him a good solid scratch in the favorite spots, and contemplated the woods for a few minutes. And headed home.
A very, very good horse. I could have killed him today, it would have been my fault.
Also, no more slab roads on my jobs!
Indeed, a very, very good horse. I’m really glad this has such a happy ending. Thank you for sharing it.
horses understand much more than we humans give them credit for, Buddy is a very good man
What a good egg! Happy you bath made it home safely.
Sometimes they just come thru for you. You NEVER would expect “that” horse to do it but they do. The stuff legends are made from! Ha ha Congratulations on getting both of you safely out of a bad situation without injury! Continue to be VERY careful with Buddy, he has not turned into Fury, who will be perfect again in the next poor situation. He is just a horse, but was a very, very good horse today!!
I LIKE good endings!!
OP, I’m going to give you credit too.
Your command to “back” & whole demeanor must have been calm.
Not taking away from Buddy, but you gave him the input that this was not an OhMyGod!!! situation.
Anecdote:
I just got back from The National Drive.
A Club friend was there for her 1st time, driving her 30yo TWH/Morgan (also named Buddy 
) to an antique Dr Buggy.
She went on a drive alone, chose an unmarked trail & ended up in a deadend too narrow to turn around & so roofed with branches she had to put her top down, but was still stuck fast.
TG, she had her phone & called another friend there, who informed the office & they sent help.
Through the whole ordeal, her Buddy remained calm.
So, what could have been an ugly accident, became merely a good story. 
No worries on this being a storybook horse! He and I have worked through too much for me to have any illusions on that score. His front feet being caught may well have kept him from his usual reaction; I always drive him on very, very long lines though. I think he will never be a ‘safe’ driving or riding horse; I think a 150 years ago he would have been a ‘good using’ horse. He loves having a job, he would be happiest working an 8 hour day 6 days a week. As it happens, the only job I’ve found that he loves is going into the woods and ground driving to pull logs. This is a horse that if you give him a choice between the fields and the woods, he picks the woods every time. I’m given to understand he is good in a team setting, and I think he maybe. Perhaps someday.
@2DogsFarm it is all about teamwork, isn’t it! And just being able to stop, take a deep breath, and work it out. So glad that your friend and her Buddy had a similar good story.
