My horse does not like his back feet messed with how can I desensitize him so we can shoe him better?

A horse that is defensive about his hind feet is a genuine safety issue, and it is one that needs to be addressed systematically and without shortcuts — because a horse that kicks while the farrier is working is a horse that is going to injure someone eventually. The good news is that hind foot sensitivity is almost always a training gap rather than a permanent personality trait, and horses that seem completely intractable about their back feet can be transformed into cooperative patients with the right approach applied consistently over time. The key word is time — this is not a one-session fix, and rushing the process invariably sets you back further than where you started. Before starting any desensitization work, rule out physical causes. Hocks, stifles, and lower hind limb issues can all make a horse genuinely painful when his hind legs are lifted and held, and a horse in pain is not being stubborn — he is protecting himself. Have your veterinarian evaluate the hind end, particularly if the reluctance appeared suddenly or has worsened over time. With physical causes ruled out, begin your desensitization work completely separate from farrier visits. Start by simply touching and rubbing the horse's hind legs from a safe position, working your way down from the hip to the hock to the cannon to the fetlock over multiple sessions. Do not rush to pick the foot up. Just build the horse's comfort and trust with being touched all the way to the ground on both hind legs before you ever ask for the foot to come up. A long rope or lunge line looped around the pastern is a useful tool for the early stages. Standing to the side rather than directly behind the horse, apply steady upward pressure on the rope and wait for the horse to yield the foot rather than forcing it. The moment he gives even slightly, release the pressure. Once the horse will yield the foot to the rope, begin picking it up by hand from a safe, correct position — holding it for just a few seconds, setting it down before the horse pulls away, and gradually extending the duration as the horse relaxes. Consistency between sessions is what produces a genuinely transformed horse. Five minutes of correct desensitization work every day for a month will do more than an hour of wrestling once a week.