Stalking Horse - Related Concepts

Related Concepts

One related concept is the smoke screen. Like a stalking horse, smokescreens are used to screen and mask an attack. In the literal and genuine form, the smokescreen is still a device used in warfare (in defence as well as attack), but in general usage, it is also a commonly used metaphor. A stalking horse would be a particular form of 'smokescreen'.

Another concept is that of flying a kite. The stalking horse pretends to be interested in a concept themselves, but in reality they are testing an idea for another. Likewise, in journalism, the term 'flying a kite' takes the metaphor of the child's toy to mean: advancing a concept in which one has no personal belief, or for which one has no reliable evidence, as a similar exercise in 'testing the waters'. Another similar metaphor is that of a trial balloon. For example: 'Anonymous sources say that Adam Everyman wants to be President of the USA'. If he doesn't, he will deny it, ruling himself out as a potential contender, allowing real contenders to see who is left in the contest. If Everyman does want it, he has been forced to declare his position too soon, allowing others to search for arguments to counter his threat. The politician would not give an answer when asked the question himself, so the journalist advanced it anyway citing 'anonymous sources'. This is an honorable tradition, but in this example there was no real source to be protected, it was a fabricated story. This would of course be uncommon and indeed unethical, but still it is 'not unknown'. At worst, it fills space on a dull news day, but it might flush out interesting responses from real people, in which case the non-existent sources can be 'discarded' and the real people can be presented as the sort who were being 'protected'. Now the journalist has real stories which can legitimately be pursued. Different examples may provoke different responses. Some may be directed to play to the readers themselves. The idea is 'to provoke a response where otherwise there would be none'. Like the stalking horse, the means is to use a spurious debate to provoke a real one. The difference is that the concept is advanced, not an individual. In one form of 'flying a kite', a journalist claims to be acting on a behalf of a real but anonymous person, while in reality they are acting for themselves: this would be the opposite of the stalking horse.

Another concept is collusion. The difference here is that collusion usually refers to the situation of the First and Third Parties both declaring themselves openly to the Target, but each pretends to be independent of anyone else and acting solely for themselves, whilst in reality, they are acting in concert, in joint enterprise and to mutual advantage, at the expense of the Target. If one party acts aggressively and the other sympathetically towards the target, it may be an example of good cop/bad cop. In the stalking horse scenario, the First and Third Parties are still acting in concert and in joint enterprise and still at the expense of the Target, but only the first party, the 'horse', is openly dealing with the Target. In addition, they are not acting to immediate mutual advantage: they are acting to advantage the Third Party only, the anonymous party, who, at a later date, should in turn give reward to the First Party, the 'horse'.

Another idiom might be that of the puppet-master. One person, the 'horse', dances like a puppet in the limelight on the stage, but another, the anonymous figure, is the one who is actually pulling the strings, unseen by all. The stalking horse appears to be acting for and as themselves, but there are others in the shadows. The difference is that the eminence grise or puppet-master is definitely controlling the puppet, but the stalking horse may not always be acting on the orders of, or to the benefit of, a particular - named - individual: they may be acting for a cause, in the hope that some individual will be inspired to enter the fray and take over.

A final related concept is that of the sacrificial pawn. In the game of chess, a pawn may be advanced in the knowledge that it will definitely be lost, but in so doing it will force out an enemy piece of much higher value and make that piece much more susceptible to attack. This image is also in common usage as an obvious metaphor. The difference with the stalking horse is that not only is the outcome not known at the outset but, furthermore, that it cannot reasonably be estimated without a proper reconnaissance. Unlike the pawn, therefore, the horse might have a good chance of survival. What is definite is that, either way, the 'horse' will not benefit from the initial exercise.