I am an advanced ceramics student, and i am considering building a ceramic horse for my girlfriend. I intended to handbuild it, but I am worried about the overall stability and strength. The legs would be really thin, and I really don‘t want to put a bunch of effort into something that is going to break. We work strictly with white earthenware.
I've made lots of ceramic horses. You are better off if you don't make the legs terribly thin (think more pony than arab), but it's not a major problem. Yes, if somebody throws the sculpture around they are much more fragile than e.g. a pot, particular before firing, but given appropriate care it can be done. While building them put the body on a block of clay to support the weight (put a piece of paper or plastic between block and body). After the legs are strong enough to support the weight you can remove the block. Though if you want to make sure you might considering to leave the block until after firing so it doesn't sag.
