Skeleton horse statue installed atop empty 'fourth plinth' in London's Trafalgar Square

The sculpture "Gift Horse", which portrays a skeletal horse by German-born artist Hans Haacke, stands above Trafalgar Square after it was unveiled as the new commission for the Fourth Plinth, in London, Thursday, March 5, 2015. The 4.6 meter high bronze sculpture has an electronic ribbon attached to its front leg displaying a live ticker of the London Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (The Associated Press)

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A detailed view shows a live ticker of the London Stock Exchange as part of the sculpture "Gift Horse", which portrays a skeletal horse by German-born artist Hans Haacke, after it was unveiled as the new commission for the Fourth Plinth, in London, Thursday, March 5, 2015. The 4.6 meter high bronze sculpture has an electronic ribbon attached to its front leg displaying a live ticker of the London Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (The Associated Press)

A detailed view shows the head of the sculpture "Gift Horse", which portrays a skeletal horse by German-born artist Hans Haacke, after it was unveiled as the new commission for the Fourth Plinth, in London, Thursday, March 5, 2015. The 4.6 meter high bronze sculpture has an electronic ribbon attached to its front leg displaying a live ticker of the London Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – London's Trafalgar Square, full of tourists, pigeons and military monuments, has a new occupant — a skeletal horse displaying stock quotes.

German artist Hans Haacke's "Gift Horse" was unveiled Thursday atop the square's "fourth plinth," a major platform for public art.

The work is a skeleton horse with a London Stock Exchange ticker tied to its leg.

Haacke said the artwork was a nod to the square's other equestrian statues, of King Charles I and King George IV. He said he hoped visitors would be "intrigued by what the ticker of the London Stock Exchange tells them about their fortunes."

The plinth was erected in 1841 for an equestrian statue that was never completed. Since 1999, it has been occupied by artworks, displayed for about 18 months at a time.