Frontal supports the quadruped must have, we hear! (8)
I believe the answer is:
forelegs
'quadruped must have we hear' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'frontal supports' is the wordplay.
'frontal' becomes 'fore' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'supports' becomes 'legs' (leg is a kind of support).
'fore'+'legs'='FORELEGS'
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for forelegs that I've seen is " Front limbs of a quadruped".)