digital.poet,
Asking about what exercises had been done...that's a very good point. I'd be really interested to know too. So, for those of you who soloed in single digit hours, could you possibly post what exercises you'd done, and how long of each. Because I think you have to do at least a couple of hours of stall recovery. And I too can't see how you could fit it all in to less than ten hours, and I'm curious.
There is no minima for any of the exercises before solo. At least according to my Instructor manual 'Instructional Techniques For The Flight Instructor'.