Dr. Steve O'Grady was a professional farrier for ten years prior to obtaining his degree in veterinary medicine. He learned the farrier trade through a formal apprenticeship under "Hall of Fame" farrier, Joseph M. Pierce, of West Chester, Pennsylvania. He then returned to school, attended Haverford College and went on to graduate from the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science in South Africa with a DVM Degree in 1981. After graduating from veterinary school, Dr. O'Grady did an equine internship in Cape Town, South Africa. From here he went on to join Dr. Dan Flynn at the prestigious Georgetown Equine Hospital in Charlottesville, VA where he stayed for 10 years before opening his own practice devoted to competition horses and farriery.

In 2003, Dr. O'Grady opened Northern Virginia Equine in Marshall, Virginia which is a referral practice devoted to foot disease and equine therapeutic farriery. Here he combines his skills as a veterinarian and a farrier to better understand and treat problems of the foot. Dr. O'Grady has published 25 peer-reviewed papers in the veterinary literature, numerous papers in the farrier literature, written ten book chapters and edited two editions of Veterinary Clinics of North America on equine podiatry and therapeutic farriery - all resulting from his extensive work in equine podiatry. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame and in 2009; he received the AAEP President's Award for his work in farrier education.