Model suggests German author looks a bit horse-like, in short (9)
I believe the answer is:
mannequin
'model' is the definition.
(I know that model can be written as mannequin)
'bit horse-like in short' is the wordplay.
'bit' becomes 'mann' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'horse-like' becomes 'equine' (I've seen this before).
'in short' means to remove the last letter.
'equine' with its last letter removed is 'equin'.
'mann'+'equin'='MANNEQUIN'
'suggests german author looks a' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mannequin that I've seen before include "Dummy figure" , "Life-size dummy for displaying clothes" , "fashion model" , "Shop's dummy" , "Display dummy" .)