In the picture above you can see me working with Kirby, a young Arabian gelding who had lots of trouble with giving his back feet.

Although I more often experience this kind of behavior in mares, Kirby was pretty unsure about people around his hind end and would always try to run away or kick.

It took me three solid weeks before I finally began to see progress. My knees looked like this for quite some time, it would have been a lot worse if I hadn't been able to avoid most of his kicks.
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So what is the "correct leg pick up"?

For some people it's all about technique, while for others it's about trust, respect and boundaries. 

This brings me back to the way Parelli does it. By squeezing or if necessary pinching the horse's chestnut (on the inner side above the knee) until they move their weight/lift their leg.

During my work with abused horses however, I found that they experienced this way to be way too invasive and I think also a bit rude.