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hadassah wrote:

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Is the kohein hagadol's ox positioned that way so that the ox faced the altar and so that it's horns were pointed away from the kohein (or actually curving down towards the floor), thus making it easier to grab the horn to keep it's face pointed in that direction?

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No - quite the reverse, in fact. The ox faced away from the great altar.

The great Mishnah commentator Rabbeinu Ovadyah ben Avraham of Bertinoro in Italy (late 15th century), quoting the g'mara (folio 36b), explains that ideally the animal should have been placed facing to the west, i.e. directly into the main Shrine building towards the Most Holy Place - where the sh'chinah resided. But if it had been so-placed, its rump would have been turned towards the great altar and it would have caused a desecration if it were to defæcate towards the altar. The animal was therefore placed with its front end to the south and its hind quarters to the north and only its face was turned to the right, facing into the entrance of the Temple building to the west of where it was standing. In order to perform the s'michah (pressing his hands onto the animal's head) when making the two confessions, the kohen stood behind the animal's head, also facing towards the west, so as to avoid turning his back towards the sh'chinah (the s'michah procedure was normally performed standing in front of a hatta't animal).