Like you, I hate the appearance of these animals, especially the ones which can barely walk, but they have gained in popularity, along with the other double-muscled breeds, because of the other extreme end of farming - to cross with the skeletal ultra high - yielding Holstein and other dairy breeds in an attempt to produce something resembling a beef animal which can be sold as a suckler cow. Of course in the beef stakes, no commercial beef farmer cares about the taste of the meat they produce - all they care about is what they get paid for an animal, which is governed by the EUROP grid (developed in Europe to favour the extreme conformation of continental breeds of cattle). While this system persists, our native breeds that our forefathers developed to suit our dreadful climate and fed us for generations are discriminated against! (You can tell I feel strongly about this!) I have to say though I think the British Blue breeders are doing their best to address all the breed's problems. I hope that one day our native breeds will stage a comeback, but the general public are so obsessed with cheap meat in supermarkets and so brainwashed about the dangers of fat, that I fear they will remain a niche market for restaurant chefs and well off people who care about how their meat tastes!