Again, super helpful - thank you!
Everything EventerAJ said, plus the most helpful hint I’ve gotten: as your horse takes off, do a rise like you’re doing rising trot. Don’t lean forward or back; just rise your seat slightly off the saddle. This lets you follow the horse’s motion - without slamming him in the back (which in turn launches you as the horse lands). You have your weight in your stirrups and your legs on, and you land lightly from the drop with the horse’s motion on getaway.
The most important aspect is the loose reins though. If you start that way and you both get comfortable with it, then as you progress and have the strength in your position, over bigger drops or combinations, you’ll be able to keep a light contact and your horse won’t launch into space. He’ll drop down gently as he always has, you won’t balance on his mouth, and you’ll be able to smoothly communicate your line as you land.
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Every horse I’ve owned, I’ve started with walking banks. You should walk them if you have any shred of nervousness. There’s no dire need to trot or canter them, especially if you are doing below BN, as the rides usually aren’t timed. Even if they are timed, the optimal time is so generous you can fit a walk session in and not get penalized for it.
Put on a neck strap. Right before the drop, thread your fingers around the neck strap and allow the reins to slip through your fingers.
I find it’s easier for most to walk or canter down a bank, versus trot - but the rider comfort comes into play here. Find a small bank - or even make one yourself - to practice on every day. All my horses get schooled to this rock wall on the property that is functionally a tiny bank. Once they understand the ask the drop height usually doesn’t matter.
As others have said, practice slipping your reins and giving them their freedom of neck and head and shoulders. If they don’t feel constricted, they’ll rarely launch off. Most lower level banks are a physically easy ask for a horse. It’s the rider that worries about them. Think of it as a trot pole; at the lower levels, the height really doesn’t matter and it is just a simple step down for a horse - remember, they got long legs!
I was at a Peter Grey clinic a few years ago and he did an exercise for my group which was riders of all skill sets from BN to P - we circled a bank at a canter. Three strides before the drop down, we walked. Walk straight with a loose rein, drop down, to pick up the canter again. It was a lovely exercise that relaxed the more nervous horse/rider pairs.
BTW - I was the only rider to show up with a neck strap and he made a huge fuss about it in a good way. He said more riders should ride with the neck strap and if they are nervous, the strap is there to hold off of instead of the horse’s mouth.
My current eventing horse’s first season eventing, we walked every drop down – including at shows.
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You know, a grab strap is a great idea. I have not used one up until now - not because I feel particularly brave or skilled - that’s far from the truth - but because I have not felt that I would use it. But here it would be reassuring, I think. Thanks @beowulf - I’m off to shop! 
No need to buy one if you have a spare stirrup leather lying around. I retire my tired leathers and use them as a neck strap.
I found some photos from the Peter Gray clinic - you can see the stirrup-leather converted to neck strap. He did advise a similar position as @Blugal suggested - just hovering your seat slightly to let the horse step down. In this photo, we’d graduated from the “circle” exercise and we were jumping a fence that is just out of frame, about six strides from landing.
The added benefit of a neck strap is it reminds riders where to put their hands.
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Make sure you put your grab strap somewhere that’s easy for you to actually grab in an emergency! I have a bad habit of dropping my hands to my lap so a stirrup leather on the neck does me no good, when things go wrong my hands probably won’t be anywhere near it. If I was serious about having something to grab I would get one that hooks the the d rings on my saddle, knowing that’s what would work best for me. Think about what makes sense for you and how you ride.
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But if you do want to shop for a neck strap (or drop a few hints for holiday shopping), Clever with Leather has really nice ones that can coordinate with your XC colors and attach to your saddle.
https://www.cleverwithleather.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=64&product_id=90
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Back when show hunter divisions had outside courses, essentially cross-country courses with fewer tricky/creative jumps, I encountered my first drop jump.
I trusted my young 13-hand pony to go over anything that could reasonably be called a jump, so I just asked around about how to ride over it. Then cantered as usual up to it, pony took it easily, and there we were. It was about a four-foot drop. No big deal. 
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When I was a kid, the trails across the road from our house had a stonewall set into the side of a slope. On one side it was 2’. On the other side it was at least 4’.
I think we all, even the kids with small ponies, jumped that drop on a regular basis, and did not think it was a big deal.
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And neither was the sport of jumping off our house roofs either 
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I’ve audited two Peter Gray clinics near me, and he had riders walking ditches as well as up and down banks. It gives both horse and rider time to process what they’re doing and really worked to keep both relaxed.
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oh lordy- now do we think photo 5 is Jade or Hunter Green for when I order?
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Hmmm, good question. I don’t think their color chart is very accurate. I have the royal blue, which is definitely much lighter than the color chart shows. It would be nice if they labeled the pictures.
I called and left a message
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Please do not use a C4 belt. I have seen people use them as grab straps since it matches their colors. I have worn one as a belt and had it pop apart. I would not trust one to hold if I had to grab it as a grab strap.
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If you want a trustworthy grabstrap, not spend a ton AND have it match your eventing colors you can order colored an english stirrup leather from an endurance tack site. Some of them have up to 20 different colors! The stirrup leather is actually beta biothane, a very sturdy vinyl type material that is flexible and VERY tough. They have stainless steel buckes - NOT plastic as in C4 belts. Or you can do what one of the above posters suggested and just use a real leather that may look a bit bedraggled, but still more than solid enough for a neck strap.
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Regarding grab straps, I prefer to use a racing yoke. My favorite one is biothane; like Lusoluv mentioned, it’s soft and flexible, easy to hold, and very easy to clean (but unlike leather, it doesn’t matter if you abuse it and don’t clean it!). I like the racing yokes because they are thinner than a stirrup leather, and fit looser, close to the withers; I hold them on the baby horses doing flatwork or hacking, and I want to have the neck strap long enough to ride sitting up with hands in normal position above the withers, not reaching forward up the neck for a grab strap in 2-point. It’s adjusted such that I can use it as a neck rope too.
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I use half of a set of reins buckled onto itself for that exact reason! I tend towards wanting to hug the neck, so having it a bit longer helps me stay where I need to be.
