In the close up of Ben Cartwright holding down the calf, after the calf was branded another man walks up to the calf and wipes his hand where the calf was branded, that was done so that calf wouldn't run into the brush with fire on its back and start a fire in the brush. A long haired calf like that could start a brushfire as the hair would burn for up to 30 seconds to a minute. The good thing is that calves have tough enough hide on them where as the fire wouldn't burn them enough to hurt them.