ex- BLM donkey behavior at a donkey shelter

Question
Hi Lisa,
I hope that you might be able to help me understand something that happened at a donkey shelter where my daughter and I volunteer.
At the shelter there is a gelding ex-wild donkey named Levi.  He lives in a corral with 6 - 8 other johns.  He came to the shelter exhibiting at times aggressive and dominant behaviors, while at other times he was quite friendly and mild mannered.  He came to the shelter from a failed adoption with an owner who was afraid of him, because of these same behaviors (i.e. would charge at people who got into his space).  After approximately 2 weeks with a trainer named Chuck in Guffy, CO, he came back very mild mannered and would even take a saddle and a small rider.
My daughter is 7 years old, and she and I have been volunteers at the shelter for 2 years.  I was showing some new volunteers around, and we came into the corral in which Levi and his buddies were hanging out for the day.  Several of the donkeys crowded around my daughter (Allyson) to be petted and talked to (this is fairly routine).  She didn't have any treats.  When she turned away to leave and come back to me, she turned her back on Levi and walked away.  He followed her and appeared to use his shoulder to knock her to the ground, and then lay down on her (front half first; she was pinned on her side under the upper part of his ribcage, and he was right-side up).  The behavior did not appear to be sexual in nature, nor did he seem intent upon hurting her (when I ran over and yelled and screamed at him and pulled on his collar to get him to stand up, he did so quite calmly and walked away as if to say "all right, all right...").
Allyson was shaken but unhurt, and after about 10 minutes of comforting and snuggling was right back out with the donkeys (those in a different corral!), and the rest of us have been scratching our heads ever since.  Chuck the trainer did say that Levi had laid down on his dog once when Levi was down in Guffy for training (not a small dog...) and it sounded as though this were the same thing that he did with Allyson.
We are very eager to know what this might mean--have searched our donkey books and a number of donkey websites with no luck finding a description much less an interpretation of similar behavior.  We would appreciate it very much if you could let us know what you think, or where you think we might turn for more information.
Thank you very much for any help you can provide!
Karen


Answer
Hi Karen,
           This donkey is displaying very dangerous behavior and could kill or maim someone. I would hazard a guess that he was either gelded late or is proud cut. A Jack or a donkey who was gelded late can be gentle one minute and can be ripping the throat out of a person the next. The behavior you described is typical dominance behavior.

Lisa