Pony bipedalism assistive device rough concept

I had an idea that came to me,(which I could have submitted about 3-9 days ago but didn't, due to me wishing to create more "activity" than if I were to added the suggestion dump) what if the ponies were assisted in the bipedal position by "power armor" with the lower "foot" segment of the armor emulating a human foot to counteract the forward mass that would normally tilt them back on their legs (much like a human's foot does).
This idea probably only has application in the game if Piedoom0 wishes the game to be more "realistic", and wishes the ponies to operate weapons with their front hooves.

Due to the way I parented the device straight to the pony's rig the device ends up stretching out in pics 1,2,3. But in pic 4 the device is undeformed.

PIC 1

A front view of the bipedal assist, which has some potential for being armor.

PIC2

Another side view showing the length of the "foot" of the device.

PIC3

Another side view.

PIC4

A picture of the side of the pony, you can see a bit of the "neck support" of the device, and how the "feet" collapse upward to minimize interruptions to standard pony movement. The "gloves" that the pony is wearing could protect the pony against the "feet" of the device.

The green spaces represent the bipedal assist rather crudely (please excuse), and could/should be changed such they are robotic/steampunky, and far more "mechanically justified"/realistic. I imagined that the "feet" of the mechanism would collapse a little and point upward when not in use to permit normal quadpedal pony movement. I also imagined that mayhap the front/upper part of the bipedal assist would wrap around the neck or the body of the pony, such that any chest armor would stretch to cover the chest. I also imagined in a very early concept that the back of the pony would act as support for the "bottom" of the bipedal assist (the word "brace" comes to mind). I also (excuse my verbal repetition) imagined that the device would be bound to the legs of the pony with rope or something.

While I didn't google "power armor" myself when making this concept, I suggest you google "power armor" for inspirations (you might want to check S.T.A.L.K.E.R's power armor too).

Here are some useful links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton
Take a look at the legs of the first image.

http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/Exoskeleton


I only take credit for assembling this stuff here. I only made the crude "attachments" to the pony and AK-47.

If you want a download of this blender file, contact me.

Well...
Here's the thing. We wanted walking to be quadrupedal, and most item use to be bipedal.
As to whether or not that's use an exoskeleton? Hmm... well it's not a bad idea, but I'd have to put our artsy sort onto how to fit that into the style, if it fits in the style at all.