one of the most interesting questions about gullivers travels is whether the houyhnhnms represent an ideal of rationality or whether on the other hand they are the butt of swift's satire. in other words, in book iv, is swift poking fun at the talking horses or does he intend for us to take them seriously as the proper way to act? if we look closely at the way that the houyhnhnms act, we can see that in fact swift does not take them seriously: he uses them to show the dangers of pride.