So my horse has aural plaques which have made him earshy. I can touch his ears with my bare hands and gently stroke them though he's tense. I try to make it positive by giving him treats while doing this. However, summer is on its way and to help stop the aural plaques getting any worse, I need to put a fly mask with ears on him.

This normally takes about 20 minutes and I end up having to try and throw it over his head hoping it lands on both ears. He really really hates it, to the point he backs up and rears (I don't tie him up for this as that'll be too dangerous). He'll fling his head and try and get it off of him as quickly as possible, until both ears are nicely in their holes where he's happy. Once it's on, everything is fine. Methods I've tried are slowly pulling it over his face, pulling it over his ears from behind (again slowly and gently), and flinging it over his face from the side and hoping for the best. The fling method is the most successful.

He's not scared of the mask, but just hates it near his ears. Any tips to try and make him realise it's not going to hurt his ears and he's not going to die? 🤦‍♀️