stalking-horse

[ staw-king-hawrs ]

/ ˌstɔ kɪŋˌhɔrs /

a horse, or a figure of a horse, behind which a hunter hides in stalking game.

anything put forward to mask plans or efforts; pretext.

a political candidate used to conceal the candidacy of a more important figure or to draw votes from and cause the defeat of a rival.

Origin of stalking-horse

First recorded in 1510–20

Butts had been introduced as a stalking-horse, but there was no doubt about Si's admiration of his "handiness."

The Magnetic North |Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond)
But the unwisdom of the king serves him for a stalking-horse while secretly he pursues the goal of his private ambition.

The Growth of English Drama |Arnold Wynne
Thus Balder the Beautiful in my hands is little more than a stalking-horse to carry two heavy pack-loads of facts.

Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I. |Sir James George Frazer
The sotie was directly satirical, and only assumed the guise of folly as a stalking-horse for shooting wit.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 |Various

I take no delight in the stalking-horse, for I catch such cold that I am like to founder myself at that sport.

Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete. |Francois Rabelais

stalking-horse

a horse or an imitation one used by a hunter to hide behind while stalking his quarry

something serving as a means of concealing plans; pretext

a candidate put forward by one group to divide the opposition or mask the candidacy of another person for whom the stalking-horse would then withdraw