The Prophet ﷺ used to position his mount in front of him and pray facing it.Nafi asked, "What did he do when the riding-camels became restless?"He replied, "He would take the saddle and set it upright, then pray facing its rear end," or he said, "its back part." Ibn Umar used to do the same.
عن النبي ﷺ أنه كان يعرض راحلته فيصلي إليها. قال نافع: أفرأيت إذا هبت الركاب؟ قال: كان يأخذ هذا الرحل فيعدله فيصلي إلى آخرته- أو قال: مؤخره- وكان ابن عمر يفعله.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Prayer (507), and Muslim in the Book of Prayer (502), both through the route of Mutamir bin Sulayman, from Ubaydullah, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, who mentioned something similar, and the wording given is Bukhari's. Muslim's wording is abbreviated, "He used to set his mount crosswise while he prayed facing it." In another wording, "He used to pray facing his mount." And in another wording, "The Prophetﷺ prayed facing a camel."His saying, "yuridu" (with the ra doubled) means he would place it crosswise, that is, positioned between himself and the qibla. His saying, "the mounts became agitated" means the camels became restless. It is said, "habba al-fahl" when the stallion becomes agitated, and "habba al-baeer fi al-sayr" when the camel becomes lively in its pace. Al-rikab refers to the camels that are ridden, and this word has no singular form of its own. The meaning is that if the camels became agitated, they would disturb the one praying because of their lack of stillness, so he would turn away from them toward the saddle and use it as a screen.His saying, "its rear part" (akhiratuha or muakhkharuha) refers to the piece of wood at the back of the saddle that the rider leans against.In the Muwatta (1/155) it is stated that Ibn Umar disliked passing in front of women while they were praying. And in another report, he would not pass in front of anyone, nor would he let anyone pass in front of him.