# horseshoe up one's ass

idiom · Vulgar

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/horseshoe-up-ones-ass
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Exceptionally favorable personal luck.

## Examples

- He always wins the lottery; he has a horseshoe up his ass.
- She missed the last train but found a twenty-dollar bill on the platform, proving she has a horseshoe up her ass.
- He walked away from that terrible car accident without a single scratch, making everyone at the hospital think he has a horseshoe up his ass.
- Despite his complete lack of preparation, he passed the difficult exam with ease, leading his peers to joke that he must have a horseshoe up his ass.

## Origin

The expression is a cynical, jocular formulation involving the traditional folkloric status of a horseshoe as a charm for good luck. To have something stowed in such a manner suggests you have the item on hand and available despite the profound unlikelihood of being so equipped. The idiom implies you possess an unlikely amount of luck and carry it around continuously in a way that seems unexpected. It functions as a rhetorical query for the improbable: if you were to patch a tire in the middle of nowhere, the observer might ask if you happen to have a patch kit in the aforementioned location.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.