One of the big things about horses is that they don't have to like you or even put up with you. They can outrun you, overpower you, and find food all around them without your help. When a horse likes you, it's without ulterior motive. Even when they're just looking for treats, they'll sniff and walk off.

If a horse shares breath (face to face), they're interested in you. If they groom you, you're a friend. Try to deserve the friendship. BTW, nothing is more entertaining than finding itches on a horse. Just watch the horse's face as you scratch around. You'll know when you find a good spot.

They all live for a good butt scratch but you must be very sure that you understand horses and this horse in particular before you venture into this territory. If there is the slightest uncertainty do all of your butt scratching from the side. Cats (the big kind) attack horses over their butts so horses have some very powerful hair trigger reflexes there. You might also be prepared to spend some time with the horse. There are some hilarious Youtube vids of people scratching horses' butts and being held captive for additional butt scratching.

All you experienced may be significant to you, but for the horse this barely was more than "smalltalk". Mutual grooming is kinda a reflex in horses and even the most dickish horse will return the favour. So don´t read too much into it. And for someone without experience with horses (talking about normal handling here), you assume too much too quick.

One thing I really have to turn the conversation onto is very important. YOU NEVER FEED HORSES YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT. No dry bread, no other treats and even no grass you pulled out somewhere near the pasture. Feeding protein rich food to arthritic horses can result in painful swellings of the joints and is absolutely detrimental to any treatment of arthritis in horses. Unless you know the exact medical condition of the horse in question, just don´t feed anything to other people´s horses. Pastures are inspected for plants toxic for horses, the areas that aren´t fenced are not. So, what if you accidentally pick one of the few plants that can lead to organ failure like "Jakobskreuzkraut" (too lazy to search for translation now ;) ), can have immediate toxic effects like a "Krokus"? Just a quick reminder for you to NOT feed anything to a horse you don´t know anything about. I´ve even seen some horses severely reacting to those common pellet shaped treats because there´s "Apfeltrester" , the leftovers of making apple juice, in them. That´s why we horseowners are so furious whenever we see some random person feeding our animals...there´s just so much that can go wrong and lead to a significant vet bill or even a colic...and that´s something you cannot want. My mare had the only two colics in her life in her last 2 years and I can tell you, the experience to sit with her, in her box for 12+ hours, desperately waiting for her to take a dump is nervewrecking. My mare´s two colics happened within 4 weeks...before the first, my hair and beard were entirely brown, after the second, I discovered several white "highlights" in my dreads and the right side of my beard turned white, literally overnight. A horse´s digestive system is one of the two big "weaknesses" of the horse , most horses die because of something wrong in the digestive system or something wrong with the legs. PLEASE, PLEASE stop feeding grass to any horse! No matter how "deeply connected" you might think you are with the horse. Talk to the owner before you feed the horse. ASK him/her what you can give to the horse that doesn´t cause problems.

Having said this, I´ll answer your question: Yes, I have been at the same point before. Lots of times. Practically everytime since I realised what I am. And now imagine me who at that time already had what you recently experienced on a daily basis, me unloading the trailer, getting a new schooling horse my riding club bought. I climbed into the small door at the front side of the trailer to untie the new horse...and CLICK! Our eyes met...I picked up the rope and waited with the horse for the ramp to open, letting it sniff me, scratcher it´s ears, nose and neck. I led the horse down the ramp, it constantly kept body contact with me during the unloading process of walking backwards down the ramp. This horse´s eyes, it´s alert but not panicky mood, the "classiness" some horses seem to radiate...from the second I met this horse, I felt love. One and a half years later, I bought this horse from the riding club and had wonderful 22 years with this mare by my side as my parter, my comrade, my friend, my "wife". So yeah, I´d say I can relate to your experience somehow...;)

I knew this one horse who would kick the stall door with his front hoof when he wanted attention.