A recovery system for recovering wrecked vehicles in difficult-to-access locations generally includes a frame, a front plate, a rear plate with a mounting system for mounting the recovery system to an operating vehicle, a guide shaft and guide wheel, a boom assembly, a horse head assembly mounted in a cable sleeve in a pivot end of the boom assembly, a winch, and a cable running from the winch over and along the boom and through the horse head assembly. The horse head assembly generally includes a clevis, a clevis pin, a sheave wheel, and a cable guide. The clevis preferably rotates within the cable sleeve with respect to the boom assembly, the cable guide preferably pivots on top of the boom assembly, and the sheave wheel and cable guide preferably freely rotate on the clevis pin and preferably translate along the clevis pin.