the houyhnhnms represented the perfection of nature

Gulliver describes the horses or the Houyhnhnms as having, "The behaviour of these animals was . . . orderly and rational . . . acute and judicious." These horse-like creatures are devoted to philosophy and reason. They are the antithesis of the very superficial Lilliputians. THey are enlightened creatures seemingly unaffected by greed, politics, or lust. Indeed, Swift describes the Houyhnhnms as "perfection of nature." In a sense, they are naive to human vices like cheating and lying. These negative traits simply don't occur to them. As a Biblical allusion they represent man before his fall from grace.